


Mr. Cupcake

by TheNightFury



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Bakery AU, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Getting Together, Hospitalization, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Modern AU, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 51,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29672214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNightFury/pseuds/TheNightFury
Summary: For years Chava's Cupcakes was the only bakery Zeb and his family would ever go to. However when someone new takes over, Zeb’s life is very suddenly turned upside down.
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus & Yogar Lyste, Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 120
Kudos: 75
Collections: Kalluzeb Mini-Bang 2021





	1. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this is my contribution to the Kalluzeb Mini Bang! I'll be posting a new chapter every day until it is all posted! I hope you guys enjoy it!

By far the best bakery in town was Chava’s Cupcakes. For every birthday and special event Zeb and his family would go to Chava to get one of her amazing desserts, and Ezra’s birthday was no exception. Ezra was obsessed with her chocolate cake with bavarian cream, and Chava’s amazing decorations were nothing to sneeze at either. She always knew exactly what her customers wanted and never failed to make spectacular designs. Despite the fact that Ezra seemed to always ask for the same cake for his birthday, Chava always managed to make something new and exciting for Ezra. 

As always, one month before his birthday, Zeb took Ezra and Sabine to Chava’s to put the order in for Ezra’s cake. Most would say it was silly to put the order in so early, but Chava got extremely busy during July with a boost in summer weddings and birthdays, so they did not want to risk Chava being unable to take the order. 

“You sure you don’t mind big guy?” Kanan asked hopefully when he had asked Zeb to go for him earlier in the day. 

“Nah,” Zeb assured. “I don’t mind gettin’ the chance to see Chava. Sides I kinda owe ‘Bean a croissant…”

“Did you make a bet with Sabine?” Hera asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Sorta?” Zeb awkwardly said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I asked for some help with a gift fer Ezra- d-don’t tell him!”

“Heh, no worries big guy,” Kanan assured with a smirk. 

“Is she making something for him?” Hera asked curiously.

“Nah, he knows her art style too well,” Zeb said. “Just really had no idea what to get him so Bean was givin’ me suggestions.” 

“You know you could have asked us and avoided having to buy her something right?” Hera asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yea but I know she would’ve asked knowin’ Ezra was going to the bakery today either way so I figured I’d make her at least sort of earn one,” Zeb said with a chuckle. 

“Huh, not a bad idea,” Kanan said with a laugh. 

Which is how Zeb found himself pulling up to Chava’s with Ezra and Sabine in tow, both bouncing in their seats in excitement. 

“I can’t wait for my birthday!” Ezra said as they all climbed out of the car. 

“You just are excited for the cake,” Sabine playfully said. 

“So what if I am!” Ezra cried. “Cake is amazing!”

“I’m not saying it isn’t,” Sabine said, “But you aren’t excited to see your friends and family!” She playfully cried. 

“Not when I literally see them every day!”

“Hey, quit fightin’ you two!” Zeb scolded. “Or I will take you both home!”

“You wouldn’t!” Sabine said with a dismissive wave of her hand. 

“Watch me,” Zeb said with no malice in his voice. Though she knew Zeb would not take them back home, Sabine did stop her bickering with Ezra as they walked inside. 

“It’ll be hard to decide what cake to do….” Ezra said thoughtfully. 

“Oh come on you always get the same thing!” Sabine said teasingly, playfully elbowing him. 

“Maybe I’ll mix it up this year!” Ezra exclaimed as they walked up to the counter, the pairs bickering fading away as his eyes landed on the man leaning against the counter, his golden blond hair shining in the sunlight as he brushed a few stray strands off of his forehead, freezing when he noticed Zeb was staring. 

“Oh uh….hello?” The man slowly said in a smooth accent, meeting Zeb’s eyes with his piercing golden eyes, Zeb awkwardly clearing his throat to say,

“Er- hello...uh what brings you out here-” Stupid, he cleary was here to get something sweet to eat why-

“Actually I’m here to speak with Chava,: The man sheepishly admitted. 

“Ah you a friend of hers or…?”

“Not a friend no,” the man admitted. 

“Job huntin’?” Zeb asked.

“In a way yes,” The man said uncertainly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Okay then….” Zeb slowly said. “Well my name’s Zeb, what’s yours?”

“Alex,” Alex replied, holding out a hand for Zeb to take. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Zeb said, taking Alex’s hand in his own to firmly shake it. 

“So what brings you here?” Alex asked. 

“Orderin’ a birthday cake fer the kid,” Zeb replied, pointing over to Ezra and Sabine who were eagerly looking over the cake options. 

“They’re your kids?” Alex asked. 

“Oh no, they’re family but uh not mine….haven’t really found the right person to start a family with ya know?”

“I see,” Alex said, a soft smile on his face as he looked Zeb over, leaving Zeb feeling completely exposed under his gaze. “There a story to that….unique….sweater?” 

“Nothin’ too excitin’,” Zeb sheepishly said, glancing down at the item in question, a purple zebra striped sweater that hung loosely even on him. “My gran bought this for me when I was a kid, I was obsessed with Zebra’s and I kept askin’ why Zebra’s couldn’t be purple so she found this for me only she didn’t realize she accidentally got an XXL for me. I told her I loved it still, said I’d eventually grow into it and I did.” 

“I bet your gran appreciates the thought.”

“I’d like to think she does….she died when I was in high school.”

“O-oh...I’m so sorry I didn’t mean-”

“Nah it’s alright,” Zeb assured, waiving a dismissive hand. “I’ve got a new family now...wouldn’t trade em for the world.” 

“It must be nice to have something from them to keep them close,” Alex softly said. 

“Yea…” Zeb agreed, trailing off for a moment. This Alex was surprisingly easy for him to talk to. Of course, it certainly helped that he had that lovely accent that Zeb would happily spend all day listening to. His mouth seemed to be working faster than his brain as he found himself starting to say, “So uh I was wonderin’-” 

“So sorry to keep you waiting Alexsandr!” Chava exclaimed, stepping out from behind the counter. 

“It’s no problem,” Alex assured. “Another one of your guests was keeping me company.” 

“Oh hello Garazeb!” Chava greeted. “Are you here for Ezra’s birthday cake?” 

“Yep,” Zeb said, “He’s over their figurin’ out what he wants.”

“Of course,” Chava said amicably. “Would you mind if Wedge took care of your order today? I fear I may be with Alexsandr for a little while, we have quite a bit to discuss.”

“Yea sure…” Zeb nervously said, worried about the implications of her words. “Everythin’ okay?”

“Yes yes everything is fine,” Chava assured. “No need to worry. Just some boring business I need to attend to. Now go on help Ezra pick, else he may be here all day.” 

“Right,” Zeb agreed, fears only slightly alleviated. Chava was not usually this vague-

“It was wonderful meeting you Zeb,” Alex softly said, holding out a hand for him, “I hope we have the pleasure of seeing each other again.” 

Zeb swallowed thickly, his throat suddenly extremely dry, as he said, “Likewise.” Alex flashed him a warm smile before following Chava back behind the counter and into the back office, only realizing once he was out of sight that them running into each other again was extremely unlikely and that he had not given Alex his number nor vice versa. 

“So,” Sabine asked in a sing-song voice. “Didya get his digits?” 

“No,” Zeb groaned, collapsing into one of the chairs littered throughout the store. 

“No!” Sabine cried, sitting down across from him. “Why not? He was totally into you-”

“I don’t know why okay? I just- froze up I guess?”

“You two where sure chit-chatting a lot for someone who ‘froze up’” Wedge teasingly said from the other side of the counter. 

“Oh shut up,” Zeb groaned, head falling into his hands. 

“So what did happen?”

“I really don’t know,” Zeb grumbled. “We were just talking and I just didn’t think about it at all.”

“Aww, love at first sight. Too bad you’ll probably never see him again,” Sabine lamented. 

“Don’t rub it in,” Zeb groaned. 

“I mean unless you hung out here until he finished with Chava,” Wedge said with a quick shrug of his shoulders, Zeb perking up at the suggestion.

“Hey that’s not a bad idea!” Zeb exclaimed, beaming at Sabine who looked at him with horror. 

“Please no-”

“Aww come on kiddo, it won’t take long I bet, Chava was just bein’ nice.” 

“Uhh-” 

“Come on trust me kiddo, it’ll be like thirty minutes tops!” Zeb assured. “Please?”

“...okay fine,” Sabine groaned. “But thirty minutes only! Then we are gone. I have homework!”

“Promise,” Zeb assured. “I owe ya one kiddo.”

“Damn straight!” Sabine declared. 

“Don’t swear,” Zeb scolded. 

“....can that be my I owe you-”

“No,” Zeb deadpanned. 

“Fine.” Sabine grumbled. 

“Come on I bet Ezra won’t even be done by the time Chava is done!” Zeb assured her as he stood up to buy Sabine her croissant. 

“You better be right!” Sabine exclaimed. 

“When have I steered you wrong kid?” Zeb cheerfully said.

“All the time!” Ezra playfully called out. 

“Just for that you don’t get anythin'!” Zeb declared as he passed Sabine her croissant that she immediately tore into eagerly. 

“Awe come on!” Ezra cried. 

“Nope! Too late!” Zeb declared, a wide grin on his face. They would be in and out in no time. They just had to wait a little longer, but it would be worth it. 

\----

“Can we please go home?” Sabine groaned, not even looking up at Zeb from her seat at the table nearly an hour and a half later. 

“It can’t be much longer now-” Zeb frantically said, staring at the door the pair had disappeared through, willing it to open up again. 

“Zeb please I have homework!” Sabine begged. “I don’t want to be up all night!” 

“You always stay up all night,” Zeb begged, looking at her with pleading eyes. 

“Yea doing art and fun stuff! Not homework!” Sabine cried. 

“Come on Uncle Zeb we’re bored to death!” Ezra groaned. 

“I know kiddo-”

“So take us home please!” Sabine begged. “I love you and I love the idea of helping you hook up with someone but we have lives too!” 

“Alright alright fine,” Zeb groaned, slowly standing up, casting one last hopeful glance at the door. 

“He’s not coming out Zeb,” Sabine grumbled as they all walked out of the bakery and into Zeb’s truck.

“He has to eventually!” Zeb grumbled, slamming the door shut as he buckled himself in. 

“Maybe he left out the back door already or something!” Sabine snapped, Zeb falling silent as he started the car. 

“...Wedge would have said something if he did-” Zeb mumbled softly, backing out of the parking spot and pulling out of the parking lot. 

“Why didn’t you just leave your number with Wedge anyways?” Ezra asked, Zeb slamming hard on the breaks.

“Fu-dge-” Zeb quickly corrected, eyes wide. Why didn’t he do that? “H-hold on a second!” Zeb cried, making an only semi legal u-turn to get back into the bakery’s parking lot, nearly taking out another car that was pulling out of the lot on his way back in, parking in a hanicapped spot and throwing himself out of the car, not even bothering to lock it. The kids would be fine for just a minute, Zeb ran through the bakery, throwing the door open, startling Wedge who was working on cleaning the display. 

“Where's the fire-” Wedge began.

“I need to leave you something!” Zeb cried. “Can you give it to that Alex guy when he-”

“Oh uhh sorry Zeb,” Wedge awkwardly said. “He literally just left-”

“No,” Zeb groaned. “No way-”

“Yea….” Wedge awkwardly said. “I think his car was the one you almost hit coming back in-”

“Fuck!” Zeb cursed, slamming his first onto the counter, breathing heavily. How had he managed to fuck this up so badly?

“Bad timing there…” Wedge awkwardly continued. 

“Damn it Sabine!” Zeb cursed. If she had just waited another minute he could have given him his number! 

“Don’t blame Sabine,” Wedge said, curling into himself when he realized he’d just shouted at a customer, Zeb deflating at the movement. He really was being an ass wasn’t he?

“Yer right, yer right...sorry kid….”

“Me too,” Wedge said. “I really wish I could help….”

“Me too kid,” Zeb groaned, slumping back out of the bakery, cursing his rotten luck. Why hadn’t he thought to just leave his number over an hour ago? Why didn’t he take the kids home then come back? All of those thoughts swirled mercilessly though his mind as he climbed back into the driver's seat wordlessly and started the car again. 

“...what happened?” Sabine slowly asked, sensing Zeb’s sour mood. 

“He left already,” Zeb groaned. 

“Wait seriously?” Sabine asked. 

“Yep. Just missed him. Apparently I almost hit him with my car.” 

“...ouch,” Sabine said, wincing. “I’m sorry-”

“I should be apologizin’ to you,” Zeb interrupted. “I kept you guys here for a long time and I shouldn’t have...can ye forgive me?”

“Course Uncle Zeb!” Sabine assured, wrapping her arms around him. 

“Thanks kiddo.” Zeb mumbled. 

“Hey, does anyone care what I think?” Ezra cried from the backseat. 

“Nope,” Sabine and Zeb said in unison, earning an annoyed huff from him as he crossed his arms, Sabine and Zeb laughing, Zeb a little less enthusiastically. It was just some random guy, he’d get over it...eventually.


	2. Discoveries

Despite his assurances to his family, Zeb found himself returning to the bakery daily before and after work in the vain hopes of bumping into Alex again while there. Despite the ever growing frequencies of visits however, Zeb never managed to bump into him. Zeb knew he could ask Wedge or Chava if Alex had even come back to the bakery at any point, but was too embarrassed to admit he was pinning after a man he’d only just met. Everyone probably knew he was trying to run into him again, but thus far thankfully no one said anything directly to his face, and he wanted to keep it that way. Two weeks after his fateful run in, Zeb was on auto pilot parking his car and walking to the door, not even reading the signs as he tugged on the handle, growing when he found the door was firmly locked. 

“What the-” Zeb said, finally taking in the Closed sign on the door. Confused, Zeb pulled out his phone, trying to figure out if he had somehow completely forgotten about some holiday. No, it was just a regular Tuesday. No special events or holidays. So why was the bakery closed? Eventually, Zeb’s eyes landed on a sign taped to the door:

_Dear Valued guests,_

_To help improve your experience with us the store will be closed for the next two weeks for remodeling._

Groaning Zeb didn’t even bother finishing reading the notice. Two weeks? What was he supposed to do with himself for that long? What if Alex tried to come back to the bakery during this remodeling time and Zeb missed his chance to see him again? What if he already had missed his chance? Why hadn’t he just asked or even left his number on the chance Alex returned? Why was he so stupid?

Grumbling in annoyance, Zeb stormed to his car, slamming the door with an enraged growl. Stupid stupid stupid. How did he screw this all up so badly? 

Sure it was early, but what else was he going to do with himself? He was already up and ready to go. Might as well get an early start to the day. 

Despite his rotten luck in the love department, Zeb knew he was extremely lucky, with a wonderful family and a successful business. Deep down he knew he didn’t need love to be happy, but when watching Hera and Kanan being together and happy Zeb couldn’t help but wish he could have something like that for himself. 

Still, Zeb knew moping about it all would not help, so he buried himself in his work, desperately trying not to think about Alex and his gorgeous golden eyes and soft blond hair. He had to get him out of his mind, couldn’t keep imagining how he could have done things differently. Couldn’t imagine him working up the courage to give his number, nor how his lips might feel against his own-

No, there was no point dwelling on those things. He screwed up his chance with Alex, he needed to move on with his life. And so he would. No more thinking about it, he was going to let go and move on. 

Or so he told himself. 

Hard as he tried though, Zeb found his thoughts continually wandering back to Alex. Why was Zeb so incapable of getting into any sort of relationship with anyone? Attempt after attempt went up in smoke, rejection after rejection leaving him heartbroken and alone. What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he just get it in his head relationships didn’t work for him. 

Things with Alex felt so different, Alex seemed genuinely interested in him, Alex flirted back, paid attention to him, smiled at him, seemed genuinely interested in talking to him. Even the kids thought there was something. 

Or they could have just been being nice to make him feel better. 

Zeb honestly wasn’t sure if it did make him feel better or worse. 

Getting the energy to get the shop open was much harder than usual, mentally and emotionally drained from the avalanche of emotions overwhelming him. Every date, every spark, brutally and cruelly snuffed out before anything could become of them. Again and again he could only watch as every romantic interest crumbled away before his eyes. 

Maybe he was doomed to be alone forever. The thought made him sick. 

He couldn’t think about failed romances though, he needed to focus on his work, he had recently scored the biggest commission of his life and he fully intended to make his client proud. The commission was supposed to be of a giant wolf, the centerpiece for a new hotel opening up on the edge of town, a massive resort that promised to bring loads of travelers into the town to be surrounded by the towns and nearby forests natural beauty. 

Somehow one of the new owners had discovered his little woodworking shop and had fallen in love with his pieces, he had even hinted that if his guests and investors were happy with the piece there could be more commissions in his future. He could not fail this. This was his chance to make a name for himself. 

He could not wallow in self pity, not when he was so close. Once the shop was open Zeb went back to take in the beginnings of his piece. Inspiration had been painfully hard to come by recently, his thoughts consumed with another failed romance, wondering if there was just something wrong with him. So far he’d only begun carving out the base of the piece, it being generic enough that he didn’t need to worry too much about struggling to flex his creative muscles. But sooner or later he would need to start the actual piece. His client had given him a great deal of liberty in the finer details of the piece, but the key was it had to be a wolf, being as the wolf was a part of the hotel's logo. 

Zeb had a few weeks ago started sketching out some ideas for what the figure might look like but nothing he’d sketched out so far really stuck. With his foul mood it might be best to focus on sketches instead of carving. A few ideas bounced around his head, but he wasn’t sure what he wanted to go with. He luckily had a few months still before the grand opening, but with this being the largest piece he had ever carved he wanted to give himself plenty of time to nail the project. 

With that thought firmly in mind, Zeb began sketching out random ideas, hoping one would spark _something_ inside of him. Infuriatingly however, nothing came to him. Even though he had only just opened the shop, he felt completely drained, like he’d already worked a ten hour shift. With a groan Zeb threw down the pencil. 

Maybe he needed to focus on some trinkets. Something light and easy with none of the heavy weight this piece held over his head. 

Zeb picked up a thin piece of rosewood, eyeing it to find where he wanted to start. The wood pens were particularly popular and the rosewood had a personality that was popular untinted. Carefully Zeb picked up the carving knife, slowly lowering it to the wood, hand freezing before it touched. He could do this. It was just a pen. No big deal. Despite his self reassurances, his hands continued to tremble. 

Apparently he couldn’t do this. 

With a frustrated growl Zeb set down his tools. He couldn’t carve, he couldn’t sketch and there were no customers to keep him distracted. What was he supposed to do for an entire day if his body refused to cooperate and make anything? Zeb let his head hit the carving table with a thunk, screwing his eyes shut. 

What was wrong with him? He should be used to rejection and failure by now. A small miserable huff escaped his lips as his mind wandered back to Alex. If the universe had given them a chance would he have liked Zeb? Could they have made it past the first date? Would he have not been annoyed with him talking about his shop and his work? 

“Stop thinking about him,” Zeb grumbled to himself, banging his forehead on the table. Why couldn’t he stop pining over him? Eyes flying open Zeb jumped to his feet, an idea for something gnawing at his mind, the perfect idea for an old piece of wood he had gotten months ago that refused to speak to him. 

He didn’t know if this piece would speak to anyone but him, but he just had to bring this piece to life. Tools in hand once more, Zeb took began carving. His specialty had not usually been flat pieces, but in this instance, it was the best medium to convey the ideas dancing in his mind. This could be a practice piece for the real commission. But for now the piece began to take shape, woods across a tall outlook, a lone wolf sitting atop the peak, looking into the distance, searching for something. 

Some would say family. 

Some hope.

A few though would knowingly look into the soul of his work and know. 

He was searching for love. 

Someone to hold his hand during the sleepless nights. To reassure him, someone for him to hold and comfort, to support and pour every ounce of adoration he contained in his entire being for them. Someone to know him intimately in ways no one ever could. 

“That’s a fine piece there,” a voice asked, startling Zeb out of deep concentration, nearly scratching through his work. 

“Karabast!” Zeb shouted, stumbling away from his work. 

“I apologize,” the man calmly said. “I did not intend to frighten you.”

“It’s uh-” Zeb began, taking a moment to catch his breath. “It’s fine.” Straightening his shoulders, Zeb looked over at the man saying, 

“How can I help ya?” 

“I was just passing through,” the man honestly said with a shrug and a sheepish smile. “I’m new to town and I heard about this shop and wanted to stop by to see what the fuss was about.”

“Ah well uh...does it meet your expectations?” Zeb nervously said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Exceeds it to be frank,” the man admitted. “This piece alone is more than enough to prove the quality of your work, it’s breathtaking.” 

“Ya think so?” Zeb hopefully asked. “There’s still a lot that needs to be done.”

“Even so it is divine,” the man said. 

“Thanks,” Zeb said. “I’ve been kind of in a funk and then...this idea hit me and my hands just started working- uh sorry probably doesn’t make much sense, huh?”

“I’m more of an analyst myself, though I do fancy myself an art enthusiast,” the man admitted. “But this--if this is what you make when stuck, I am curious to see what you make at your peak.”

“Been awhile since I’ve had a peak to be honest with ya,” Zeb mumbled, wondering why he was pouring all of this out to a stranger.

“Heartbreak can do that,” the man said, Zeb jumping at the words. “It is quite obvious heartbreak has motivated this piece. A lone wolf, lost seeking something...despite popular sayings, wolves are very much family animals. They thrive in packs, surrounded by their family and loved ones.”

“Something they and I have in common,” Zeb admitted. 

“Hmmm,” The man said, glancing back down at the piece. “Will this be for sale?”

“Y-You want to buy it?” Zeb exclaimed. “It’s not even finished yet-”

“No it is not,” The man said. “But I know a masterpiece when I see it. How much will it be?”

“I uh...not sure yet,” Zeb admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “Price depends on how long a piece takes and there is a ways to go still.”

“Understood,” The man assured, straightening up. “I will stop by again in a few weeks if you believe that will be enough time to finish the piece.”

“I think so, yeah,” Zeb said, mind reeling still.

“Wonderful, I will see you then.” The man said with a small bow before turning and leaving, only when he was gone did Zeb realize he never even asked what his name was. 

“Karabast,” Zeb groaned, pushing the odd man out of his thoughts. He probably wouldn’t come back. Still, it was nice knowing someone at least thought this piece was something worthwhile. 

\----------

Consumed by inspiration for his latest piece, Zeb quickly lost track of time until his phone chimed with a text from Hera reminding him about dinner. Realizing it was close enough to closing time to shut down, Zeb went about closing down the shop. Normally he was not one to shut down the shop early, but with his only customer being that odd man that day, Zeb didn’t really feel too bad. Besides him closing early meant he could swing by the bakery and-

The bakery was closed. 

In the midst of his inspiration he had almost completely forgotten about the news from earlier that day that had sent him spiraling into his foul mood to begin with. All of the pain and misery from earlier in the day came crashing back down on him nearly suffocating him once more. 

Peace had been nice while it lasted. 

In a far more miserable mood then when he started, Zeb finished closing the shop, too far in to be bothered with trying to open up again. He could at least come to dinner early and help finish up with anything left. Even though the thought of going to dinner drained him of what little energy he had left. Zeb almost considered just skipping family dinner this week, but he knew the kids would be heartbroken if he did.

Besides, maybe being with family right now was what he needed. Something to really help him stop thinking about his pathetic love life. 

So he kept telling himself. 

Despite his resolve to go see his family, it was a near constant struggle to keep himself from turning his car around and driving home and telling everyone he wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t make it. 

He knew they would understand, but he also knew how upset they would be even so. He could suck it up for them. The remainder of the drive went by in a blur, Zeb walking up to the front door in a zombie like state, the door flinging open only seconds after he knocked. 

“Hey Zeb! You’re here early!” Hera cheerfully greeted. 

“Yea,” Zeb grumbled. “Bakery is closed for the next two weeks-”

“Two weeks!” Ezra cried eyes wide. “W-will they be open in time for my birthday?”

“Birthd- oh….” Zeb mumbled, eyes wide. In the midst of his moping around, he had almost completely forgotten that it was almost Ezra’s birthday. 

“Hey hey,” Hera soothingly said. “Don’t worry, even if the bakery is closed Chava will make sure you get your cake I know it!”

“.....okay….” Ezra nervously said. 

“Chava won’t let you down,” Zeb agreed, reaching over to playfully ruffle Ezra’s hair. 

“Hey!” Ezra cried, trying to swat Zeb’s hand away, trying and failing not to laugh at Zeb’s antics. 

“Just tryin’ to cheer you up, kid,” Zeb teasingly said. 

“Not the hair!” Ezra cried, fighting to keep a grin off of his face. 

“Sure kid,” Zeb teasingly said, grinning down at Ezra who stuck his tongue out at him. He certainly hoped that was the case at least. 

Chava hadn’t let them down before. She would not let them down this time. 

\------

Over the next few weeks, Zeb buried himself in his work, slowly starting to put together a basic sketch for what he wanted the commission to be. Initially he wanted to depict a wolf emerging from the woods, but he realized in a three dimensional environment like he was asked to do something like that would not work well, He almost wished he had been asked to make a more flat piece to hang on a wall. But seeing the lobby he understood why they decided for a full piece. 

Zeb’s muse was telling him to go for a more abstract piece, a wolf with a depiction of a forest engraved across his body. The piece seemed perfect. But still Zeb hesitated to start carving. What if it was too abstract and the client hated it? With how big the piece was he doubted he could sell it if the client rejected it. 

On the other hand if he went against his inspiration he knew the piece would suffer and not be what it could be. He probably needed to take a break and come back tomorrow. It was close enough to closing time anyways. Besides, today was Ezra’s birthday and he had been tasked to pick up the cake from Chava’s. Of course it wasn’t like there was anyone else the family considered sending, everyone knowing he would want to stop by anyways. 

Unfortunately they were not wrong; some part of him hoped in vain that somehow Alex would be there, so it did not take much convincing to get him to go to pick up the cake. It would be nice to see Chava again anyways. 

With that in mind, once the shop was closed up, Zeb started the short drive to the bakery. Quickly Zeb noticed an unusual amount of traffic as he got closer to the bakery. Maybe other people were just as happy as him to see it open again?

As Zeb pulled into the before all too familiar parking lot, he found himself in an almost unrecognizable place. At first Zeb was certain he’d pulled into the wrong parking lot until he turned his head and saw the grocery store across the street right where it belonged. Confused, Zeb glanced back over at the sign that used to be Chava’s Cupcakes proudly proclaim itself as “Mr. Cupcake”. What happened to Chava’s? 

He wouldn’t get answers sitting in his car gaping at the sign. Determined, Zeb found a parking spot in the unusually busy parking lot and made his way inside, bristling in anger at the proudly displayed “Under New Management” sign. What bastard was proud of the fact they’d shoved Chava out of her beloved bakery? Zeb knew she could not have left willingly, she loved this place too much to just leave! Someone forced her out, and he would find the bastard that did it!

Barely able to contain his rage, Zeb threw the door to the bakery open, narrowed eyes scanning the surprisingly large crowd in search of anything that could tell him anything about what was going on. In an instant all of his rage faded away when he spotted a familiar head of blond hair accompanied by carefully maintained muttonchops. Alex? He was here? A wide grin on his face, Zeb made his way through the crowd towards Alex who somehow still had not quite noticed him yet, seemingly too focused on whatever he was doing to have noticed him yet. 

He couldn’t believe it, finally after all this time, he was going to see Alex again! A wide grin on his face, Zeb wove through the crowd, slowly making his way over to Alex who seemed to finally see him out of the corner of his eye, turning to face Zeb with an equally excited grin on his face. 

“Zeb!” Alex cheerfully greeted, Zeb’s grin falling off of his face as he registered what Alex was wearing. “I-Is something wrong?” Alex asked, noticing Zeb’s icy expression. 

“Yea somethin’s wrong,” Zeb growled. “You bastard!” 

“What-?” Alex began confused as Zeb furiously pointed at his nametag that read “Owner” on it. 

“How could you?” Zeb spat out, seeing red. He couldn’t believe someone who seemed as nice as Alex could do something so heinous. 

“I beg your pardon?” Alex asked, eyes flashing in rage. “I have been working to get my own bakery for longer then you can eve-”

“I don’t care how important this dream was!” Zeb roared, not caring he was making a scene. This was his friend after all, someone had to stand up for her. “Your dream should not come at the cost of someone’s livelihood!” 

“What are you talking about?” Alex snapped.

“You know exactly what I mean!” Zeb roared. “Chava would never give this place up! This bakery has been in her family for generations! You can’t expect me to believe she would ever just give it up!” 

“You don’t know her as well as you think then,” Alex growled, expression icy. “Because this was her choice.” 

“Why would I believe a liar?” Zeb demanded. 

“So you’re really going to resort to name calling?” Alex asked with a humorless laugh. 

“It’s the truth!”

“Your truth!” 

“What does that even mean?” Alex asked, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“It means you’re not the man I thought you were,” Zeb snarled. 

“Neither are you it seems,” Alex whispered, expression hard as the pair glared at each other, both oblivious to Wedge’s presence until he awkwardly coughed, catching both of their attention, Wedge wincing back from the intensity of their glares. 

“I have the cake for Zeb…” Wedge sheepishly said. 

“Good,” Alex said, glaring daggers at Zeb. “Just take it and go.” 

“Maybe I don’t want to support you and this-”

“I will have you know Chava made this one herself,” Alex interrupted. “Insisted she make this cake for you actually though I cannot imagine why.” With an angry growl Zeb snatched the box from Wedge saying,

“I am only taking this because it is Ezra’s birthday and I will not disappoint him.” 

“Let me guess, ‘you’ve lost my business good luck staying open yadda yadda’,” Alex said with an eye roll. 

“Couldn’t’ve said it better myself!” Zeb snapped as he slowly backed out of the place. 

“Trust me I won’t even notice,” Alex declared with a mocking wave. “Have a wonderful day!” 

“Fuck you too!” Zeb snapped before storming out of the bakery, rage practically blinding him, guests who were walking into the bakery jumping out of his way as he stormed back over to his truck. How could someone be so cruel as to steal Chava’s livelihood so callously? 

Zeb didn’t really care that he was risking scrambling Chavas poor cake as he angrily stomped into his car, rage taking over every other emotion. 

He had actually had feelings for that bastard? What was wrong with him? What could have possibly attracted him to that monster? Sure he was good looking and had a nice voice but he was a selfish prick who thoughtlessly destroyed an innocent woman's livelihood! 

A part of Zeb wanted to toss the cake to the ground, but he also knew it was likely the last one of Chava’s he would ever have so he forced himself to carefully set the cake down in the passenger's seat of his car before climbing into the drivers side. How was he supposed to tell everyone about the bakery? It was….their home. The place they went to after a bad day, the place they went to every year for birthdays and every celebration. Every important moment their family had ever experienced was celebrated in that bakery. And now it was gone, with no warning. 

Why did it have to be him to drop the news? Why did the news have to be dropped at all? Zeb growled in frustration as he started the truck. This was all so wrong. Chava deserved so much better- Chava! Why hadn’t he even thought about calling her? Zeb scrambled to grab his phone, dialing Chava’s number, frowning when it immediately went to voicemail. That was odd, she always had her phone on her. 

She must have been too upset to answer, that’s all he could really think of. Why else would she ignore his call? Zeb would need to check in on her later. For now he needed to take the cake to Ezra….could he really do this? Break their hearts with the news Chava’s was gone? 

Someone had to, he couldn’t just let them find out like he did. Even so...this was going to hurt. 

Knowing what he was going to have to do was almost enough to send Zeb running back to his shop to delay the moment, but he also knew he would only worry everyone if he did that. Reluctantly Zeb pulled up to the house, staring up with dread at the door, wishing he could somehow change things and bring Chava’s back. 

But he couldn’t. With a heavy sign Zeb grabbed the cake and slowly got out of the car, making his way to the house with heavy footsteps. Before he could raise his hand to knock the door was flung open and an overly eager Sabine was there bouncing in the doorway.

“Hey Uncle Zeb! Ezra the cake is here!”

“Awesome!” Ezra cheered, running to the front door to greet Zeb with a wide grin. 

“Hey kiddo,” Zeb said, half heartedly ruffling his hair, Ezra looking up at him with a frown. 

“Is everything okay?”

“....after the party kiddo,” Zeb mumbled, slipping past the concerned pair into the kitchen where Hera and Kanan were working away to make dinner for the hungry teenagers. 

“Hey Zeb!” Hera cheerfully greeted. “You’re right on time-...is everything okay?”

“...no…” Zeb whispered, carefully setting down the cake. 

“What’s going on?” Kanan worriedly asked. 

“...the bakery is gone.”

“What do you mean?” Hera asked. 

“Some bastard kicked her out and took over,” Zeb growled. “Been tryin’ to call Chava and talk to her but...she’s not answerin’.”

“Poor Chava,” Hera whispered. 

“We’ll figure out a way to reach her,” Kanan assured, placing a hand on Zeb’s shoulder. “She’s tough, she’ll land on her feet.”

“...I know,” Zeb sighed. “I just- I thought Alex was actually an okay guy!”

“What does Alex have to do with this?” Hera asked. 

“He’s the new owner!” Zeb shouted, clamping his mouth shut at how loud his words were

“Alex took over the bakery? The Alex you’ve been crushing on this whole time?” Hera asked, eyes wide. 

“Yep,” Zeb growled, placing his hands on the counter to support himself. “I have such a great taste in guys huh?” 

“Zeb-”

“Look it’s- it’s fine,” Zeb grumbled, unable to look either of them in the eye. “Let’s just try to make sure this party is good...for Ezra.”

“This is probably the last cake from Chava we’ll get,” Hera agreed with a small frown. 

“This is so messed up,” Zeb groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. 

“It is,” Kanan agreed. “All we can do now is be there for Chava, whatever she needs.”

“...yea yer right.” Zeb sighed. “I just hate it.”

“Me too,” Kanan agreed. “Me too.”


	3. A Surprise Visitor

“Stupid arse,” Alex grumbled under his breath as he furiously scrubbed a cookie sheet, trying to clean off the baked on dough, using it as a way to vent out all of his anger and rage. Who did Zeb think he was shouting at him at his place of business scaring his customers? “Thinks he knows everything.” Alex grumbled as he furiously scrubbed. He knew nothing. How could he think Alex could steal someone’s livelihood like that? 

Alex growled in anger and threw the pan into the clean water bin, splashing water onto the ground, but Alex was too pissed off to care. He had actually been attracted to the ass! Attracted! What was wrong with him? He wasn’t that attractive with his ridiculous plaid button down shirt with tight sleeves around his pecks-

With a groan Alex dropped his head into his hands. Zeb was every bit his type, handsome in a rugged sort of way with a cocky smile and shining green eyes. He was polite and had a sense of humor and despite how infuriating he was, Alex couldn’t help but admire how much he cared about his friends. 

It didn’t matter how much Zeb was his type or how attracted he was to him, Zeb loathed him with every fiber of his being and was truly being a complete and total arse to him. He took one look at him and assumed the absolute worst about him, and despite his attraction to him, he was still pissed beyond belief at him. 

“Bastard!” Alex roared as he slammed more dishes into the soapy water before beginning to vigorously scrub the pans. 

“...Uhhh Alex are you okay?” Lyste nervously asked, poking his head out from the back office. 

“Fine, just fine,” Alex sarcastically spat out. “I spent the entire day being cursed out practically non stop by every former regular of this place and had the pleasure,” Alex slowly enunciated the word like it was the most vile thing he had ever said. “Of seeing Zeb again.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t go well,” Lyste slowly said. 

“No it did not,” Alex growled. “H-he just- he started screaming about how I was stealing his friends' livelihood he wouldn’t even listen to what I was saying!”

“Do you think Chava said-”

“No, no way she-....I don’t think she would-” Alex trailed off, staring into the soapy water as if it held all of the answers to his problems. “What good would it do her to say we stole this place?”

“What good does cursing you out do?” Lyste asked. 

“Well nothing-”

“People sometimes do things for no other reason then to be an ass.”

“Chava didn’t seem like the kind of person to do that…”

“Neither did Zeb.”

“You’re not making me feel better at all. I hope you know that,” Alex deadpanned. “How can I trust my instincts now?”

“It’s not your fault people lie-”

“But I should be able to tell when they are!” 

“It’s still on them for lying,” Lyste said. 

“We’re assuming they lied, maybe Zeb actually thinks I did those things he said?”

“Still not your problem,” Lyste said. “We just need to focus on making sure we keep this place going.” 

“...what if we lose all of the regulars over this?” Alex mumbled. 

“Then we find new ones!” Lyste determinedly said. “We don’t need crusty old guests who refuse to let change happen! We’re innovators who look to the future! Forge our own path and find our own regulars who will love what we do with this place!”

Alex weakly smiled at Lyste’s contagious enthusiasm. The logical part of his mind said that losing all of the bakeries former clientele was a recipe for disaster, but hearing how certain Lyste was that they could do it, Alex couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, he was right. That they could push through these rough times and come out stronger and better than ever before.

“It sounds insane,” Alex began. “But...maybe you have a point.”

“Only maybe?” Lyste cried, earning a genuine laugh from Alex, Lyste beaming at him. 

“I can’t let you get a big head after all,” Alex said, Lyste laughing in response. 

“How about we cheer up by doing some taste testing of whatever it was you were creating earlier!” 

“Who says you’re allowed to try that?” Alex teasingly asked as he walked over to the walk in fridge.

“Because I’m your best friend and you can’t imagine sharing with anyone else?” Lyste said with an innocent grin. 

“Are you implying I don’t have any other friends?” Alex asked in mock anger, pausing at the door.

“No,” Lyste easily said, “I know you don’t.”

“Ouch,” Alex deadpanned. 

“Well if you came out drinking with us sometimes-”

“I’m too busy!” Alex sighed. 

“You’re always too busy,” Lyste sighed. “Go out, live a little! Have a summer fling-”

“No,” Alex firmly said. “I do not have time for romance.”

“Everyone needs some love-”

“No one could tolerate my insane schedule.” 

“For love anyone would be willing-”

“How could anyone fall in love with someone who is always working?”

“Love is strange,” Lyste said with a shrug. That Alex would agree with. Why of all the people in the world did Alex have to develop feelings for such a sensitive ass. 

“I appreciate the concern but I think for me, love is out of the question,” Alex said. 

“You give up too easily!” Lyste cried.

“You’re far too hopeful,” Alex countered before dipping into the walk in to grab the bars. As he walked out of the fridge he saw Lyste angrily glaring at his phone before shoving it into his pocket. 

“Everything okay?” Alex softly asked. 

“Yep,” Lyste tensely said. 

“Your family?” 

“There's nothing to say that hasn’t been said before,” Lyste grumbled. “I don’t need more crap from them about my life choices.”

“I don’t blame you-”

“But don’t try and change the subject!” Lyste sternly said, Alex wincing. He had hoped Lyste would be too upset with whatever messages his mother had likely sent him to continue the conversation, 

“I just think you should try and date again, you sure seemed to fancy that Zeb fellow-”

“And look where that got me,” Alex grumbled, as he grabbed a spatula before aggressively stabbing the bar with the spatula. He wanted to take Lyste’s mind off his family, but he did not want to talk about his love life. 

“...I never thought you were the type to just give up on something,” Lyste said with a smirk. 

“I’m not!” Alex exclaimed. 

“Prove it!” Lyste challenged. 

“We are not teenagers, Lyste,” Alex said with an eyeroll.

“That’s what a chicken would say!” Lyste declared, merely earning a raised eyebrow from Alex, Lyste deflating slightly at the look. “Listen I just want you to be happy.” Lyyste softly said. 

“And I am,” Alex gently assured, flashing him a warm smile. “Really. This place...it’s all I ever wanted.”

“I know….but life isn’t all about work you know,” Lyste chided. 

“Trust me I know,” Alex assured. “You won’t let me forget.”

“Well it is part of the job description,” Lyste declared. 

“What, being annoying over the top nag about-”

“I am not a nag!” Lyste cried.

“Whatever you say-” 

“What I’m not!”

“I didn’t say anything-”

“You called me a nag!” 

“Well you do nag a lot,” Alex teasingly said. 

“Well I never!”

“Never what?” Alex asked with a smirk, Lyste playfully throwing a rag at Alex who easily caught it, chiding,

“Now, now, no throwing things over my deserts.” 

Lyste stuck his tongue out at Alex playfully who gasped in mock horror,

“Lyste I am shocked at your behavior!”

“You started it,” Lyste said. 

“I’m not sure how you could make that argument,” Alex said with a raised eyebrow.

“You just did, okay?” Lyste declared.

“Saying I did doesn’t mean I did!” Alex said with a laugh, pausing before saying, “We really are acting like teenagers.”

“Nothing wrong with that!” 

“Hmmm,” Alex uncertainly said, frowning down at the bar he had been cutting. 

“Hey,” Lyste said, startling Alex out of his thoughts. “Nothing wrong with having some silly fun.”

“I know,” Alex assured. 

“So then you have no problem sharing that treat,” Lyste hopefully said, Alex rolling his eyes at him. 

“You sure have a one track mind. Was all of this to continue to try and get sweets?”

“...no,” Lyste said with a sheepish smile. 

“Geeze I know how important I am,” Alex said, passing Lyste a piece. 

“You’re my best friend,” Lyste sincerely said. 

“I know,” Alex said. “And you’re mine.” Earning a wide grin from Lyste as he eagerly took a bite out of Alex’s newest bar, Lyste’s eyes lighting up as he tried to say through his mouthful of food,

“Dis is ‘eall’ ‘ood!”

“Chew Lyste,” Alex teasingly said. 

“‘Orry,” Lyste said, chewing for a moment longer before saying,

“This is really good! It will be a hit over the summer!” 

“You think so?” Alex asked. 

“Oh I know it! Is the chocolate layer ganache?” 

“It is,” Alex proudly said.

“We definitely need to sell this over the summer!” Lyste cried as he took another large bite. 

“Geeze I can’t tell if you liked it,” Alex said with a chuckle.

“Hey no playing around this is serious stuff!”

“A s'mores bar is serious?” Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Right now it is!” Lyste cried. “What other summer items will we have? Will everything be s'mores themed or-” 

“No no!” Alex hurriedly said. “Some people will want summer fruits like strawberries and peaches.”

“Right yes,” Lyste agreed. “Any thoughts on what those would be?”

Talking about the bakery was safe and easy, the perfect distraction from his complicated feelings regarding romance and more specifically Zeb. What was the point anyways thinking about Zeb, it’s not like they could even be friends now.

Right?

\---------

Despite having lost most motivation for the piece the mysterious man had shown great interest in, Zeb tried to periodically work on it over the next week just in case the man did return. A part of Zeb was certain he actually would not come back despite his promises to do so, but another hoped he would. He was strangely easy to talk to and had an appreciation for his work painfully few ever really had, it was a nice change. 

His big commission piece was also of great concern to Zeb, as much as he struggled he couldn’t simply put it off to the side, he had to nail down a design and just stick with it-

“Still hard at work on your masterpiece I see,” A familiar voice said. 

“Welcome back!” Zeb greeted. “Uh yea...been torn between this and a commission… unfortunately inspiration has been coming and goin’ a lot lately....” 

“We cannot control how and when inspiration hits,” The man said. “All we can do is merely work with what we are given.”

“I thought ya said you weren't an artist?” 

“I am not,” The man confirmed, “But are we not all victims of the whims of our muses?”

“I suppose,” Zeb said with a noncommittal shrug. “I’m sorry though I know I said this would be done and-”

“Do not apologize,” The man said, holding a hand out. “You have many commitments I can imagine. I think everyone would rather see this piece done justice in whatever time it takes rather than rushed to meet an arbitrary deadline.” 

“I wish more clients were like that,” Zeb mumbled. 

“It is how it should be in my opinion,” The man said. “Inspiration is not something anyone can control or force. It simply….is.”

“Couldn’t’ve said it better myself,” Zeb agreed. Certainly couldn’t have made it so formal sounding. 

“It may not be done, but watching it’s progres is quite intriguing,” The man admitted. “Strangely I find myself hoping to continue catching you while working on it.”

“Another thing I don’t hear too often,” Zeb admitted. “But I appreciate it.” 

“I hope the piece you have been commissioned is going well.”

“Eh,” Zeb said with a nervous shrug, the man tilting his head in confusion. “I’m just havin’ some trouble with the design...well a lot of second guessin’ myself over it ‘n all.”

“How so?”

“Well I keep coming back to this abstract piece-...let me show you my sketches,” Zeb said. “I-if you don’t mind!’

“I would be honored,” The man assured. 

“Right, uh be right back!” Zeb said, slipping in back to grab his sketches. He wasn’t sure why he was pouring all of this out to a complete stranger, but he found this man, as odd as he was, was easy to talk to. It could have been his eerily calm voice or the way he just...listened. But it was easy to let everything out with him. Sketches in hand, he returned to the front where the man was waiting for him. 

“I realize, I never got yer name,” Zeb casually said. 

“I never gave it,” The man said. “If you are asking for it however, you may call me Thrawn.”

“Thrawn?” Zeb repeated. An odd name. 

“My first name is...difficult for people to pronounce.”

“You should still be able to actually go by your name and not something else to make it easier fer ungrateful asses.” Thrawn smirked slightly for a moment before his expression returned to its natural calm saying, 

“Be as it may, I would feel more comfortable if you called me Thrawn.”

“Fair enough,” Zeb said. It was something to refer to him by at least. “So here is what I have so far.” Zeb continued laying out his mess of sketches, Thrawn curiously looking through them, pausing at the abstract sketch he had been most drawn to. 

“This one is very intriguing to look at,” Thrawn softly said. 

“I like that one most,” Zeb admitted. 

“So why not use it?” Thrawn asked. 

“It’s kind of abstract ya know?” Zeb said with a shrug. 

“And?”

“Well my client said, wolf.”

“This is a wolf.” Thrawn said. 

“Well I think they meant like a normal wolf…”

“You think or they said?” Thrawn asked as the bell chimed, alerting him to someone entering the shop. 

“Be right back.” Zeb said, walking over to the guest who was eagerly browsing his carvings. It would give him a moment to gather his thoughts. 

“Hello there, welcome!” Zeb greeted. 

“Oh hello!” The man said. “Are you the one who makes these?”

“I am,” Zeb said. 

“Huh,” the newcomer said, glancing back at Zeb’s carvings. “My friend really likes this sort of stuff...I uh I wanted to get him a present he’s...he’s going through a rough time emotionally and I want to try to do something to cheer him up,”

“Not many people who’d do that fer a friend,” Zeb said, the newcomer beaming up at him. 

“Well he is my best friend! He gave me a chance so it’s the least I can do!” Zeb warmly chuckled at his enthusiasm 

“Well I have a few carvin’s that might cheer yer friend up! Tell me a little about ‘em and I can point you in the right direction.”

“Well he’s always had a soft spot for nature and the sort,” He said. 

“Anythin’ specific?”

“....the stars?”

“Hmm….” Zeb mumbled. “Well stars don’t translate real well into carvin’s on their own….anything else?”

“He loves baking!” The man exclaimed. 

“Oh?” Zeb mumbled, expression hardening slightly. He didn’t want to think about baking or bakeries or anything even remotely related to either. But he couldn’t tell his customer that. “...I uh, I may have something that will work.” Zeb in one of his many lovesick moments, had tried his hand at carving dessert based carvings, hoping to give one to Alex should he see him again. With how things had gone however he really had no desire to have any of them around. He was tempted to toss them but he just couldn’t bring himself too. Maybe this guy would take one, or all of them. In retrospect it had been a bit ridiculous.

“I hadn’t put these out cuz they’re not too popular but maybe yer friend will like em.”

Slowly Zeb started pulling out a couple of smaller carvings of simply things like various cookies to some medium sized cake slices and cupcakes and then finally a full sized cake carving. 

“People don’t like these?” The man exclaimed, staring at them in amazement. “They look good enough to eat!”

“I think that’s the problem,” Zeb said with a shrug, not wanting to admit not wanting to see the carvings. “Think any of ‘em would work?”

“He would love all of these!” the man declared. “I think though this one would be his favorite,” he said, pointing to the cupcake. 

“Great,” Zeb said.

“How much for it?” Zeb opened and closed his mouth several times trying to come up with an answer but couldn’t. It felt wrong to profit off of something that was supposed to be a gift for someone else. “...eh it’s got some flaws so just take it.”

“W-what?” Lyste asked, eyes wide. 

“I was never gonna sell that one anyways. Just uh, take it, it’s yours. It’s a better cause than the trash anyways.”

“I uh- thank you sir! Thank you so much!” The man cried. “I will be certain to tell everyone about your wonderful shop!”

“Anytime,” Zeb said, waving as the man excitedly scurried out of the store, carving in hand. A genuine smile on his face, Zeb turned to face his mysterious guest, frowning when he found he had at some point apparently already slipped out. With a confused hum Zeb made his way back behind the register, pausing when he saw two twenty dollar bills tucked beneath the register. Confused, Zeb looked around the shop, trying to see if maybe the man had taken something while he was with the other guest, but found nothing was missing, even all of his sketches were safe and intact. Why had he left this money for Zeb? 

Uncertain as to what he should do with the money, Zeb placed the bills in the bottom of the register to deal with later.


	4. Lessons Learned

It seemed the universe had decided it was going to punish Alex for crimes he was not even aware of that he had seemingly committed against someone. That was the only explanation for the continued hell he was living through. Still he would like to ask whoever or whatever was out there what he had done to be deserving of such wrath. 

So many people were so angry with him. Cursed at him, screamed at him, told him if it wasn’t done like ‘in the good old days’ it shouldn’t even be done. One woman even threatened to send “her boys” if he did not return the place to it’s rightful owner. Alex tried to brush it all off, but he couldn’t. Their cruel and threatening words echoed in his mind, reminding him how hated he was. Should he just throw in the towel? Give the keys back to Chava and give up?

No, he was no quitter. He refused to give up. They could keep beating him down but he would get up again as many times as it took. He just had to keep pushing on. 

“Hello there! How has everything been?” A far too cheery Chava greeted, rage bubbling inside of him. Was this some sort of sick game to her? Getting everyone to gang up on him and make his life hell?

“Take a wild guess,” Alex snapped, venom dripping from his voice. 

“Rough day?” Chava gently asked. 

“Days, plural,” Alex said, standing up and storming over to Chava who did not even flinch at his rage. “I have been cursed out, screamed at, pushed around, threatened! All over a stupid sign!” 

“It’s more than the sign,” Chava soothingly said. 

“Why did you tell everyone I stole this place from you?” Alex roared. “Why would you do this?”

“I did no such thing.” Chava said. 

“Then why the hell does everyone think I did?”

“Everyone is upset and they need someone to take it out on,” Chava sighed. “I’m sorry that it is you taking the brunt of their anger.”

“They hate me!”

“They do not hate you,” Chava chided. 

“Sure feels like it,” Alex almost hysterically cried. “We’ve been screamed at, the placed vandalized, Wedge is being pressured to quit by angry guests, I’ve been threatened, probably Zeb’s doing and maybe it’s to scare me but it crosses so many lines-” 

“Zeb?” Chava asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yes Zeb!” Alex snapped. “After his little display here things got bad, really really bad. I just- I don’t-...I’m so tired….” All his steam gone, Alex collapsed back down into the chair, head falling into his hands. 

“No one said this would be easy,” Chava soothingly said, slowly approaching him. 

“...I was expecting that,” Alex whispered, feeling Chava’s hand on his shoulder, too drained to shrug it off. “But this? The cursing and hatred?...I wasn’t ready for that….” Alex’s hands fall back into his lap, slowly looking back up at Chava. “I’m trying…”

“I know,” Chava assured. “Let me go and talk to Zeb. If he is responsible for this I will make sure he makes it right.”

“...you don’t have to-”

“I had hoped a quiet exit would make things easier,” Chava said. “It seems to have only caused you trouble. So let me fix this.”

“....thank you,” Alex whispered. 

“Of course,” Chava softly said, squeezing his shoulder before releasing it. “Try to get some rest. I know it's tempting to push yourself to the limit but you’ll burn yourself out that way.”

“I’ll try,” Alex whispered. 

“No trying, young man,” Chava scolded. “Take care of yourself.”

“Alright,” Alex said. 

“Good,” Chava said with a grin, nodding her head. “Now I’ll leave you two to finish closing up...but I think your partner has something he wants to say.”

“Part- Lyste?” Alex asked, glancing to the back of the shop where Lyste was awkwardly standing, sheepishly waving at Alex when his eyes fell on him. “I uh...how much did you see?” Lyste scurrying over when Alex spoke, a deep frown on his face. 

“Why didn’t you tell me about all of that?” Lyste softly asked. 

“I...I didn’t want to worry you,” Alex whispered, shutting his eyes. 

“Alex, we’re partners. Every victory or defeat is both of ours,” Lyste said. “Through thick and thin we’re in this together.” 

“I know-”

“So that means telling me everything, good or bad.”

“...you’re right, I’m sorry,” Alex sighed. 

“Just tell me okay?” Lyste said.

“I will….but….what are you doing here? It’s your day off?” Alex asked. 

“Well...I know you’ve kind of had it rough these past few days so I got you something to cheer you up!”

“You didn’t-”

“I wanted to,” Lyste said, proudly holding out a cupcake that upon closer inspection Alex realized was a wooden carving of a cupcake, carefully taking it from Lyste’s hands to examine the handiwork. 

“Lyste, this is- where- thank you.”

“I, uh, I thought it was perfect - a cupcake for Mr. Cupcake,” Lyste said, earning a weak laugh from Alex, his eyes watering as he set the gift aside so he could stand and properly hug Lyste. 

“Thank you,” Alex whispered, Lyste wrapping his arms around Alex to hug him back.

“It’s what friends do.”

“You are truly my best friend,” Alex said with a watery smile. “As much as I love this….our wonderful guests will probably steal it….”

“We can keep it in the office for now.” Lyste said. 

“Sounds perfect,” Alex said with a grin. 

“Let me help you close up!”

“Lyste-”

“It’s only fair, you’ve been working longer hours then I have! Go home, get some rest, I’ve got this.”

“Thank you Lyste,” Alex said. 

“Go!” Lyste scolded, picking up the bin of plates Alex had been collecting. 

“I’m going I’m going!” Alex said with a warm chuckle. 

“See you tomorrow.” Lyste called to Alex as he walked into the kitchen. 

“Don’t stay too late!” Alex called as he walked out of the bakery. 

What would he do without Lyste?

\---------

While Zeb had hoped to hear from Chava, he had expected at most to get a text from her or at most a phone call. But to see her walking through the front door of his shop with an icy look on her face was not even remotely what he had expected. 

“Chava!” Zeb exclaimed, stepping out from behind the counter to greet him. “I heard what happened to the bakery, I am so-”

“What did you do?” Chava snapped, Zeb wincing like he had been slapped. 

“I don’t-”

“Alex told me a lot of things,” Chava said. “Things I do not believe you are capable of but I know Alex is not a liar.”

“W-Wait, you’re talking to that arse?” Zeb exclaimed. “Why? He stole-”

“Garazeb Orrelios!” Chava interrupted. “I cannot believe you could ever think anyone could steal anything from me!”

“But… You love the bakery--” Zeb meekly argued. 

“I am old, Zeb,” Chava said. “I’m tired, I just want to rest now. I have no children or other family to take the business so I found someone I believed could help the place become so much more than I ever could.”

“The bakery was amazing, Chava, everyone loved it-”

“It was nostalgia,” Chava sighed. “It was no more special than any other place.”

“We loved it the way it was,” Zeb whispered. 

“I know,” Chava said. “But it was time to let it go, give it the chance it deserved to become great.”

“...You really wanted to do this?”

“I did,” Chava said.

“....I really kriffed up didn’t I?”

“Depends on how involved you’ve been in making Alex’s life hell,” Chava said. 

“What do you mean?”

“People have been vandalizing the place, cursing at him, throwing threats of lawsuits or worse, every manner of insanity out of anger for a perceived theft that never even occurred!” Chava exclaimed. 

“...shit,” Zeb groaned, running a hand through his hair. “I had no idea-”

“Tomorrow you need to apologize to that poor boy!” Chava scolded. 

“I-I will!” Zeb hastily said, guilt gnawing at his stomach. Had he really caused all of this for Alex?

“Good,” Chava said. 

“I swear even when I thought he stole the place I never wanted all of this-”

“I know that,” Chava said. “But you need to tell him that.”

“You’re right,” Zeb sighed.

“Just make it right,” Chava firmly said. 

“I will, I promise!”

“That’s all I need to hear,” Chava said.


	5. Crash and Burn

The days nearly constantly blurred together in a near endless cycle. Go to work, work all day, go home, do some more work from home, eat, sleep, do whatever chores or errands he had to in his spare time, rinse and repeat. 

It was hard, exhausting even, but Alex hoped that soon they would be able to get more employees hired so they could focus on their work that didn’t involve watching the counter and let them have more of a life outside of work. Despite losing several employees unhappy with the change in management, they luckily still retained a few employees and could take turns watching the front when no one else was available so they could have some time to do their work. 

It certainly was not ideal, but somehow it was working. 

As it neared lunchtime, Alex decided rather than eat while in front, he’d actually let himself sit down and have an actual lunch before he and Lyste switched. Pulling out the frozen meal he’d brought that day, Alex felt his stomach churning uncomfortably at the site of it. How many of these vile excuses for a meal had he choked down the past few weeks? All he wanted was a real meal, not this garbage someone decided to call quality food. 

Letting out a huff, Alex stuffed it back in the freezer and walked out front saying,

“Lyste, I’m going to get some real food for lunch, do you want anything?”

“Oh please!” Lyste said. “I forgot my lunch and was going to go when you took over in front.” 

“I got it,” Alex said. “What sounds good to you?”

“Oh you’re going out! You should pick!”

“You sure?” Alex asked. 

“I am!” Lyste assured. “Thank you, I do appreciate this.”

“Alright,” Alex said, pulling off his apron and stepping in back to throw it in the hamper, stepping back up front to find Lyste staring nervously out the window, face pale. 

“Everything okay?” Alex worriedly asked. 

“My mother is outside,” Lyste whispered. 

“Your mother?” Alex exclaimed, following Lyste’s gaze, feeling a pit forming in his stomach when he saw Lyste’s mother, Sarai, approaching the door. “You want to run in back?”

“She saw my car,” Lyste groaned. “Hiding will only make it worse...thank you though….”

“Want me to stay?” Alex whispered as she pulled the door open. 

“Please?” Lyste whimpered as she loudly cried, 

“Yogar sweetie!” Lyste wincing at the use of his name. He always hated being called Yogar; having spent most of his childhood being called yogurt certainly did not help. 

“Hello mother,” Lyste slowly said, his mothers’ gaze momentarily turning to ice as his gaze passed over Alex before forcing a smile back on her face when she faced Lyste once more. 

“It’s so good to see you, we haven’t spoken in so long-”

“I’ve been busy,” Lyste interrupted, his irritation seeping into his voice. 

“Yes I see,” She slowly said. “I’m honestly surprised you’re still playing along in this silly venture, I mean surely you know it won’t go anywhere.”

“I appreciate your concern mother,” Lyste said through gritted teeth, fighting to keep his cool. “But Alex is an amazing baker and people love his treats.”

“I don’t doubt he has skills,” His mother assured. “It’s just, well…” She glanced over at Alex with a look of barely concealed disgust on her face before focusing back on Lyste. “You know running a bakery just doesn’t give you many opportunities to grow and it’s a lot of hard work-”

“Trust me mother I know it is,” Lyste firmly said. “But this place….it’s our dream.”

“You mean Alex’s?”

“No,” Lyste firmly said. “Ours. We built this place up together, we’ve poured out hearts and souls into making this place our own. I’m happy here.”

“I know you’re having….fun here” Lyste’s mother slowly said. “But you need to think about your career and wellbeing.” 

“I am,” Lyste firmly said. “I make enough to get by and Alex and I-”

“Is getting by how you want to live?” Lyste’s mothers asked, “Don’t you want to be more than that? You can’t start a family by just getting by-”

“I don’t want to start a family,” Lyste snapped. 

“You might change your-”

“I haven’t yet and I doubt I will.” Lyste firmly said. “I’m happy here mother. Please leave me be and let me live my life.”

“Oh sweetie,” Lyste’s mother sighed. “You’re going to wake up someday and wish you’d listened to me.” 

“It’s my life.” Lyste growled. 

“I just want to protect you from making mistakes you’ll regret later on-”

“I want to make my own choices, mother,” Lyste firmly said. “Even if it means I make mistakes. I may wish I had made a different choice sometimes, but I know I would regret more letting someone else choose my life for me, even if they had my best interests at heart.”

Lyste’s mother sighed heavily, carefully examining Lyste before tiredly saying, “I’ll be here when you change your mind,” before walking out the door. 

Barely containing his rage, Lyste stormed into the kitchen, Alex glancing around to make sure no guests needed him before following behind. 

“Damn her!” Lyste snarled, punching the workbench, hissing in pain as his fist collided with the hard wood surface, Alex placing a soothing hand on his shoulder, Lyste deflating at the touch. “Sorry about that…”

“Not your fault,” Alex assured. “Your mother is terrible.”

“That’s the understatement of the century,” Lyste grumbled, tightly holding onto the counter. “She just- why can’t she- I-....”

“It’s okay Lyste,” Alex said. “I can take over up front for you if you’d prefer and you can pick up lunch.”

“You sure?” Lyste asked, looking over at Alex hopefully. 

“Positive,” Alex assured. “Just get out and breathe okay?”

“Thanks Alex.” 

“Course,” Alex assured, “Take your time okay?”

“I’ll try to be back soon,” Lyste assured as he walked to the back door. “What sounds good to you?”

“You’re the one going out now,” Alex said with a shrug. “Pick whatever sounds good.”

“Thanks,” Lyste said with a grateful smile, eagerly yanking his apron off before heading out the back door, clearly desperate to get out, not that Alex could really blame him for it. If his parents ever came to the bakery…..

Alex shudderedat the thought, focusing on the present. His family would never show up. They threw him out of their lives a long time ago. If only Lyste’s family would just do the same. No use focusing on the negative, he needed to focus on the here and now and support Lyste however he could through the drama with his family.

Hopefully his mom would leave them alone for a few months and Lyste could relax again. Very quickly the bakery was filled with customers that completely overwhelmed him for the next hour. During the rush, Alex didn’t see Lyste return, but he assumed Lyste went through the back door at some point. 

Once he finished with the last guest, Alex stopped into the back, glancing around, frowning when he saw the office door was locked still. Just to ensure he didn’t lock himself in the office, Alex knocked on the door saying, “Lyste you in there?” After a moment of silence, Alex unlocked the door to peek inside, finding it dark and empty. 

Concerned, Alex locked the door again, heading back out front to peer out the window into the parking lot to see if Lyste’s car was there, however it was nowhere to be seen. Alex tried to push down the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach and focus on cleaning up the shop in preparation for the inevitable next rush to come though. Hard as he tried though, he found himself struggling to focus, constantly checking his phone to see if Lyste had reached out to him. 

Nearly two hours had passed with no word from Lyste. He certainly didn’t mind if Lyste was merely taking a long break, but not having heard anything from him was starting to worry Alex. Maybe he just needed alone time, but the restless thoughts would not leave Alex’s mind. Unable to hide his worry, Alex gave in and called Lyste, nervously pacing as the phone rang, a pit dropping into his stomach when he did not answer. Swallowing a the lump in his throat, Alex typed out a quick text;

Hey I know you probably need the break, but I’m getting a little worried, are you okay?

Trying to calm himself down and keep himself from constantly checking his phone, Alex shoved it into his pocket and grabbed as many dishes as he could and went in back to start cleaning everything he could. Keeping his breaths even, Alex focused on cleaning everything he could get his hands on, hating suddenly how painfully empty and dead the bakery was, no guests to help him keep his mind off of the fact that he had not gotten any sort of response from Lyste, he hadn’t even opened his message yet.

As tense as he was, Alex nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone started going off, scrambling to yank it with wet hands from his pocket, nearly dropping it into the water in his eagerness to answer it, frowning when he found it wasn’t Lyste calling him. Alex almost shoved the phone back in his pocket but stopped, a nagging voice in his head telling him to answer it. 

“Hello?”

“Is this Alexsandr?” A female voice asked, Alex’s heart freezing in his chest. 

“Yes it is...who is this?”

“I’m nurse Elinore,” Elinore said. “You were the first emergency contact on Yogar’s file-”

“W-what happened?” Alex asked, feeling lightheaded. Why did this nurse need to call emergency contacts?

“Just get down to St. Martins as quickly as you can,” Elinore said before hanging up, Alex’s vision going blurry. Something was wrong, very very wrong. Lyste hated being called Yogar, he insisted on being called Lyste by everyone who knew him. But the nurse had called him Yogar which meant-

No. He could not panic. He needed to breathe, lock up and figure out what was happening. With shaking hands, Alex locked up the shop and flipped the sign to close, not bothering to do any other closing procedures. This was too important. Apron hastily tossed aside Alex ran through the kitchen and out the back door, not even bothering to make sure the door had closed properly before running to his car. 

The keys fell from Alex’s fumbling hands before he could get them into the ignition, making him curse, slamming his hands on the steering wheel. He needed to calm down and breathe. None of this was helping Lyste. 

“Focus,” Alex angrily muttered to himself as he reached down to grab the keys, desperately trying to will himself to stop shaking, grabbing the hand that held the keys with his other to keep it still enough to finally get the key in the ignition. 

“I’m coming, Lyste,” Alex breathed as his car roared to life, recklessly backing out of his spot without checking to see if there were any other cars coming and pulling onto the street. “Whatever it is just hang on.” He didn’t know if Lyste was hurt, dying or even worse. He just needed to get to the hospital and find out. Lyste had to be okay. He just had to. 

Alex didn’t think he could survive without Lyste. 

Consumed with worry, Alex couldn’t even be bothered to focus on making sure he drove all that safely, focused entirely on getting to the hospital as fast as he possibly could, hoping he could somehow outrun his spiraling thoughts. 

He wasn’t even sure how he safely parked his car or stumbled through the hospital to the emergency room. His sole focus was getting to Lyste as quickly as possible. Once he found Lyste everything would be fine. He would be just fine and this whole thing would blow over like nothing happened. 

Find Lyste, Find Lyste, Find Ly-

“You!” An enraged voice screeched, an accusatory finger shoved in his face, halting him in his tracks. “How could you!” Alex blinking slowly for several moments before shifting his gaze to the face the finger belonged to, stomach dropped when he saw Lyste’s mother, standing in front of him, Lyste’s father, sister and brother in law not far behind her. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

“Y-you got him all riled up and upset and then you let him drive! What were you thinking?” Her accusatory words snapped something inside of him, filling him with rage as he snarled, 

“I riled him up? You’re the one who came storming through his place of work and-”

“I did not storm!” She exclaimed. “He invited me!”

“He would never!”

“How could you say that! I’m his mother-”

“Excuse me!” A nurse exclaimed, walking up to the group. “Please we have other patients you’re disturbing-”

“He started it!” Lyste’s mother snapped, shoving her finger back into his face. “He’s the reason Yogar’s here in the first place!”

“No I-”

“You knew he was upset! You let him drive anyways!” She cried, Alex’s heart freezing in his chest. She was right in a way. He had seen Lyste was upset and had told him to go out. If not for his direct actions Lyste would not have even been on the road in the first place. It should be him lying in the hospital bed not Lyste-

“I-” Alex stammered, struggling to come up with any words. “I didn’t- I just was trying to help-”

“Look where your help got him!” Lyste’s mother shrieked. “He could die because of you!”

“I-I didn’t- I-...” Alex trailed off, unable to respond. Lyste’s mother was the one who had gotten him upset in the first place! But a little voice in the back of his mind kept reminding him that at the end of the day, he had told him to go out when in that shape. He was the one who wanted a better lunch, he was the one who pushed Lyste to go out instead of him, he was the reason behind it all. It was his fault-

Lyste’s mother started to hysterically cry, leaning against Lyste’s father who looked Alex up and down slowly before icily saying, “Don’t you see what you’ve done to our family?” Alex stumbling back slightly in shock, struggling to come up with any sort of response. He was right really. He was the reason Lyste was lying in a hospital bed possibly dying. He couldn’t stay here, didn’t deserve to be here. 

“I-I’m sorry….” Alex whispered before turning and fleeing in the hospital in a daze, struggling to focus on anyone or anything, his mind swirling with dark thoughts screaming at him, damming him for what he did to Lyste. 

Time was meaningless. Everything around him happened in a blurr, a series of moving shapes taking action in a lifeless world around him while he moved on autopilot, not truely taking in anything around him, every thought consumed by worry and terror for his best friend. 

Could he ever possibly be forgiven for what he’d done to Lyste? Could he ever even face Lyste? Was Lyste even alive to be able to face?

“Hel-lo?” An angry voice snapped, Alex snapping out of his spiraling thoughts back to the present. He had no idea how he got himself back to the bakery in one piece, but all he knew was he had a pissed off customer glaring daggers at him, phone in her hand. 

“S-sorry ma’am what was that?”

“Seriously you forgot already?” She groaned, “Whatever, bye.” turning on her heel to storm back out of the bakery, leaving Alex painfully alone once more. With no source of distraction, Alex found his thoughts dangerously spiraling out of control deeper and deeper into the what if’s.

He could not think about Lyste, he needed to just focus. Keep working, forget about everything else. With no guests to help though it was hard to lose himself in work, there were only so many times he could clean the tables before even that stopped working. 

Breathe in, breathe out.

Was Lyste going to be okay? What if he was dead already?

No. They would tell me that at least

Do you even deserve to know?

Breathe in, breathe out. Focus on cleaning. Cleaning though was a mindless task, not something he could focus all of his thoughts on doing, try as he might. 

Breathe in, breathe out.

Stocking, he could stock. That took more focus. Right?

Breathe in, breathe out.

Everything was shaking, limbs refused to cooperate with him. Even his lungs refused to cooperate with him as his thoughts careened out of control. He didn’t register the bucket he was holding clattering to the ground followed by the shattering of everything inside, nor did he know when he hit the floor himself, a shaking gasping mess as he tried, and failed, to get himself back under control. His vision was beginning to blur as his breathing became more erratic. 

“Alex? Alex are you okay?” A fuzzy voice frantically asked. Alex wanted to respond, needed to tell whoever the voice was that everything was not okay and he was completely falling apart at the seams. 

“Karabast- Alex you’re hyperventilating, you need to calm your breathing down or yer gonna pass out.” The logical part of his brain knew the voice was right. But his body didn’t want to listen and calm down. 

“Just breathe with me okay?” The voice said, taking an exaggerated breath in that Alex shakily copied, breathing out with the voice. “Good, there we go,” the voice encouraged. Ever so slowly, Alex was able to get his breathing back under control with the help of the warm voice, the world righting itself and his vision clearing to find Zeb of all people kneeling on the ground in front of him. 

“Z-Zeb?” Alex croaked, swallowing thickly, his entire being so painfully heavy. 

“Hey….” Zeb nervously said, reaching back to rub the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. “I know I’m the last person ya probably want ta see right now-”

“No I uh-...w-why are you here?” Alex asked, his voice cracking. 

“Let me get you some water,” Zeb soothingly said, squeezing Alex’s shoulder as he stood and jumped behind the counter, continuing to speak as he moved around, “I uh….I actually came here to apologize to ya.” 

“A-apologize?” Alex softly asked. 

“Apologize,” Zeb repeated, reappearing in front of him with a paper cup, gently placing it in Alex’s hand, helping to hold it when Alex’s hands shook too much to hold it properly on his own “I was an ass to you before for no good reason. You were just tryin’ to do your job and I come stormin’ in screamin’ at you and cursin’ you out when you didn’t even do anythin’ wrong.” 

“Not many would come back to apologize,” Alex whispered after taking a long drink from the cool water. “Thank you.”

“Course,” Zeb gently said, flashing him an appreciative smile. “Not many people would be willin’ to forgive me….”

“Beggers can’t be choosers,” Alex admitted. 

“You’re better than that,” Zeb firmly said, setting the cup down on the nearby table. 

“Which one of us is falling apart at the seams on the floor of their workplace and which one came back to apologize to a near stranger?” Alex asked with a self deprecating laugh. 

“I imagine somethin’ really bad is goin’ on for ya.” Zeb softly said. “You seem like someone who can handle a lot.”

Alex humorously laughed as he said, “It’s all my fault.” 

“What do ya mean?” Zeb softly asked. 

“Lyste is in the hospital….”

“Your coworker right?” Zeb softly asked. 

“Yes,” Alex said, taking in a shaky breath. “His mother came in and they got into a bit of a fight a-and I-I was going to go out for some lunch myself because I was sick and tired of eating frozen meals and I saw how upset he was so I told him he should go out instead and I could watch the shop-”

“Wait, wait,” Zeb interrupted. “How is the accident your fault then?”

“I wanted a nice lunch and Lyste got into the crash because he went out to get it!” Alex cried. 

“You were trying to give your friend a break,” Zeb soothingly said, laying a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You didn’t make him go.”

“....no….” Alex softly said, shutting his eyes. 

“So don’t blame yourself.”

“I….I’ll try,” Alex whispered. 

“Good,” Zeb whispered. “Did you get a chance to see Lyste?”

“....no I did not….” Alex whispered. “I-I ran away before I could-”

“Want me to take you back?”

“No,” Alex quickly said. “No I-....I really don’t want to face his family again….”

“That makes sense,” Zeb soothingly said. “They all sound like real arses.”

“They make Lyste’s life hell.” Alex groaned. 

“I can believe that,” Zeb admitted. 

“They just- they refuse to just let him live his life!” Alex snapped. “They’re constantly butting in sending him messages visiting work all just to tell him he’s living his life wrong!”

“That statement always sounded so strange to me,” Zeb said with a shake of his head. “If you’re not causing harm to anyone there isn’t really a right or a wrong way to live your life….it doesn’t belong to anyone but you so why should anyone else have a say in it?”

“That’s what Lyste keeps trying to tell his family but they are….persistent,” Alex sighed. 

“That’s tough to live with….” Zeb mumbled. “It’s good he has someone in his life at least that genuinely cares about him.

“I-I try,” Alex mumbled. “I believe he’s always done far more for me then I for him though.” 

“Just being there for someone can do far more than you think.” Zeb softly said. 

“Trust me, I know,” Alex whispered. Zeb was curious as to what he meant, but decided not to push, Alex was clearly not in a good emotional state still and he didn't want to send him back over the edge by mistake. 

“Just don’t sell yourself short is all I mean to say,” Zeb finally said. 

“Hmm,” Alex mumbled, unable to look Zeb in the eyes, “I apologize for keeping you-”

“I don’t mind,” Zeb assured. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I uh…,” Alex swallowed, taking a moment to try and sort out his thoughts. “I don’t think I really can be ‘okay’ right now.” 

“Right,” Zeb said, mentally kicking himself for the insensitive comment. “I mean...as okay as you could possibly be right now? Like not about to hurt yourself or something intentional or not.” 

“I won’t get hurt,” Alex dismissively said. 

“I just want to be sure,” Zeb softly said. 

“I appreciate your concerns,” Alex said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “I uh- I just don’t want to cause you any more trouble.”

“It’s not trouble,” Zeb assured. “This is a lot to deal with and it seems like right now you don’t really have anyone to support you through this.”

“...you’re right,” Alex said. “I don’t...but that’s not anyone’s but my own problem.”

“Just because it’s your problem doesn’t mean others can’t help share the burden.”

“This isn’t exactly a burden you can share,” Alex mumbled. “This is my bakery and I’m the one who needs to somehow figure out how to make it all work….”

“You can’t do it alone.” Zeb softly said. 

“Now I have to,” Alex sighed. 

“Maybe-”

“I appreciate your concern,” Alex said, pulling away from Zeb. “And thank you for coming by….but I need to figure this out on my own. Please don’t worry alright? I’ll figure it out.”

“Are you-”

“Please Zeb,” Alex said. “There isn’t anything you can do….please go home. Thank you for helping me today.”

“....alright,” Zeb reluctantly said, hesitating at the counter as Alex made his way towards the kitchen. He didn’t know why Zeb had really come back, but he didn’t need the emotional complications Zeb brought with him right now. He needed to focus and figure out what he needed to do next. He could not let messy feelings get in the way. 

He would be fine on his own. He had to be.


	6. A Helping Hand

Zeb barely knew Alex, he really had no reason to be that worried about him, but he knew what the kind of stress Alex was under could do to a person. He knew how it slowly ate away at a person, chipping away at their very soul until there was nothing but an empty husk of who they used to be left. It was all he could think about, Alex struggling to make ends meet, working himself to death whilst still refusing to ask for any help. Though they hadn’t spoken all that much, Alex seemed like the kind of person who did not ask for help ever.

If he wouldn’t ask for help, then Zeb would just have to give it to him. Determination filling him, Zeb closed down the shop and made his way over to the bakery, hoping he could get there before it closed. He didn’t know what he could do to help, but he would figure out something. He couldn’t help but feel responsible for at least some of Alex’s stress. 

Either luck or Zeb’s slightly faster then safe driving was on his side; he pulled up into the near empty parking lot of the bakery a minute before closing. Not even bothering to lock his truck behind him, Zeb ran up to the entrance, throwing the door open, finding the bakery completely empty save for Alex who was passed out in one of the chairs, leaning against the table with a container of dirty dishes precariously resting on the edge. 

“Karabast,” Zeb whispered, shutting the door to the bakery behind him and flipping the sign to closed. He knew the bakery opened at 7am and though he did not know how early he got in every morning, it was now 6pm and if he did this to himself everyday….. “Ya can’t keep doin’ this to yerself.” Zeb mumbled, carefully shrugging off his jacket and placing it around Alex’s shoulders who did not even stir at the touch. How early did he get in and how late did he leave every day? Did he have time to do anything besides eat and sleep? How long could he keep this up? From what Wedge said he was at the bakery every day now and working most of the day even with Wedge around. Course he was likely working on either keeping up with making sure the store was stocked with goods and keeping up with the work Lyste usually did.

Looking around, Zeb got the sinking feeling there was a lot to be done even after the store was closed, trash and filthy floors, pastries still in the case only half wrapped up and likely piles of dishes to be cleaned in the back. 

“Your gonna work yerself to death,” Zeb sighed, grabbing the container of dishes and carrying it in back. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get things exactly the way Alex needed them to be. But he could at least help some and make it a little easier on him. As Zeb feared, a pile of baking sheets and other baking utensils filled the sink, most of the dishes sitting in the first empty compartment, some dishes in the second containing soapy water and others in third of what Zeb assumed was clean water with the last compartment containing a pinkish liquid being completely empty. 

Zeb stared at the pinkish water in confusion. What was that? Was it somehow discolored from frosting or something? The water wasn’t foggy though so that didn’t make much sense. Zeb leaned forward to read the dispensers, seeing one labeled as ‘Sanitizer’. Oh that made sense! But did the dishes need to sit in it for a long time or just dunk it in and it was good to go like hand sanitizer? Would it hurt for dishes to sit in it longer than necessary? Did it not matter at all and he was just overthinking this all? Maybe he shouldn’t mess around with this. 

A quick Google search later had Zeb somewhat more confident that he wouldn’t completely screw this up and got to work scrubbing down pans. There was probably an easier way to do all of this, but he was hardly about to wake Alex up from his deep slumber to try and find out. He looked like he desperately needed every second of rest he could get. An hour later all the dishes he could find were scrubbed down and laid out to dry before moving onto finding all the trash cans he could and dumping them out. As Zeb made his way to the front, he spotted out of the corner of his eye an open door leading to what appeared to be an office with a cot shoved inside. 

Upon closer inspection, Zeb noticed the bed had certainly been used recently, with clothes scattered in the small area. His heart clenching at the realization that Alex was living at the Bakery, probably in a desperate attempt to get some sleep every night. 

It was certainly not healthy to be living at one’s work, but he could imagine how much work he had to do. The least he could do was move him to the cot which had to be at least somewhat more comfortable then the table. Careful to not move him too much, Zeb carefully lifted him into his arms, Alex not even stirring at the movement. Zeb made his way to the office, gently laying Alex on the cot before pulling the blanket over him, Alex nestling down into the warmth. As he straightened out, an all to familiar wood carving caught his eye. The cupcake he had given to that weird kid… Was Lyste the one who had come to his shop? Had he given this to Alex?

No time to dwell on that now, there was still more work to be done. With Alex settled in the office, he could focus on cleaning the front area. After a minute of searching, Zeb found the spray bottle he had sometimes seen Wedge using to clean up in his downtime. Bottle in hand Zeb started sparing down the counters and tables with some paper towels as best he could. It wasn’t perfect but it would have to do. He doubted Alex would really complain...right? 

Tables cleaned, Zeb grabbed a broom and swept the front area for any remaining debris, groaning when he realized how dirty the floor looked. Had the floors not been cleaned in days or did it get like this every day? Zeb found he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to that question. He should probably at least help out and mop the place. Even if it wasn’t normally done daily it was reaching a point it needed to be. He didn't immediately notice a mop in back but he was sure he could find something. 

Walking into the back again, Zeb scanned the area looking for something promising. Walking over to a small alcove where he saw a pile of towels and aprons he grinned when he saw a yellow bucket and a sink on the ground that was clearly meant for the mop resting beside it. Bingo. 

It was easy for Zeb to go through the motions of mopping up the front, something that was a relatively straightforward thing that he’d regularly done before anyways. Once he finished mopping Zeb took everything back to the sink he found them in. As Zeb went to dump the bucket, he fumbled it with a curse, sending the filthy water everywhere with a loud curse, a terrified shout coming from the office Alex had been sleeping in. 

“Shit,” Zeb groaned as Alex stumbled out of the office crying, 

“Who's there?”

“Sorry, sorry it’s me!” Zeb cried. 

“....Zeb?” Alex asked, staring incredulously at him. “W-what are you doing here?”

“I uh….I know things are rough for you right now…” Zeb sheepishly admitted. “I wanted to come by and help how I could and I saw you asleep so uh….”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Alex whispered, looking around the mostly clean kitchen. 

“I wanted to,” Zeb assured. 

“Well… You shouldn’t have to, you’re just as busy as me-”

“I have help still,” Zeb firmly said. “I have a full staff to cover the shop, I can shuffle things around and take a vacation even if I wanted to! But you… Could you even take a day off if you got sick?”

“I just won’t get sick,” Alex mumbled, refusing to look at Zeb.

“That’s not a long term solution-”

“This won’t last forever!” Alex quickly said, but Zeb could hear the waver in his voice, his doubt shining through clear as day. 

“Have you even hired additional staff?”

“I uh…” Alex uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck saying, “No one’s applied….”

“Not one?” Zeb gasped. 

“...no….” Alex groaned. 

“So you really really need help?”

“...it doesn’t feel right to ask you to-”

“I caused a lot of this mess,” Zeb said. “So I want to try and help make up for it any way I can….just please let me do this.”

“.....I’m….not exactly in a position to say no-”

“Good,” Zeb interrupted before Alex could talk himself out of it, “Go home and get some proper rest okay?” Alex looked hopefully for a brief moment before groaning, 

“No, no I have to do the morning bake.”

“...but it’s not mornin’?” Zeb slowly said. Alex softly chuckled, pushing his bangs off of his face saying, 

“It’s called the morning bake because it is the bake I do for the morning rush.”

“....okay but why not do it in the mornin’?”

“Because I would have to get up even earlier to give the oven time to warm up for everything to bake and then cool enough to serve,” Alex gently explained.

“You’re dead on your feet though,” Zeb argued, placing a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You should get some rest.”

“I’ll be more dead if I wait to do this,” Alex groaned, dragging himself to a shelf containing a large pile of baking sheets twice the size of any he’d seen before. He supposed it made sense they were bigger given bakeries needed to bake so much more. 

“I’m just worried about you.” Zeb softly said as Alex laid down parchment paper on the sheets. 

“I appreciate your concern but I’ll live.”

“That really doesn’t inspire confidence…..” Zeb said. 

“I don’t have much of a choice here right now.” Alex sighed as he started loading frozen scones onto the tray. Frozen? That seemed odd, but Zeb didn’t know too much about baking to know if that was odd or not. 

“Have you considered closing for-”

“No,” Alex snapped, glaring at Zeb. “Not an option.”

“But you-”

“If I close down, the people trying to beat me down win! If I close I will lose every customer I have struggled to earn and- I-I might not be able to reopen if I close….so no I can’t close, I can’t lose this place, not when I put so much into it.”

“Okay, okay, sorry!” Zeb said, holding his hands up. “I’m just worried because you could be forced to close if you crash and burn hard enough.”

“I know,” Alex groaned. “I just- I have to try and get by until Lyste comes back.” Zeb tried not to think about the unspoken admission hanging between them. If he comes back. He knew though Alex had to believe Lyste would come back. It was all he had. He would certainly break if Lyste didn’t. “Thank you for helping clean up,” Alex said. “But please go home and get some rest. I imagine you have work tomorrow as well.”

“Not as early as you do if you’re opening,” Zeb said with a shrug. Alex didn’t respond to Zeb’s comment, focusing on prepping trays before loading them into the oven. “I’ll just be finishing baking these and then I’ll head to bed.”

“Here or at home?” Zeb asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“We’ll see,” Alex non commitingly said, worrying Zeb that he would still be doing more if Zeb left now. 

“How about I stay and see if I can help make sure you actually can go home to sleep?” Zeb offered. “Living at your work can’t be good for your mental health.”

“No one ever said it was,” Alex said. 

“Yet here you are doin’ it,” Zeb said. 

“It’s temporary,” Alex firmly said.

“We don’t know how temporary,” Zeb gently reminded him. “As much as it hurts you need to accept you don’t know how long this is going to last, you need to be careful and not burn yourself out completely here.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Alex mumbled. “Not without risking this place.”

“Well you can start by lettin’ me help,” Zeb firmly said. 

“Zeb you’re not an employee I can’t-”

“No one has to know,” Zeb assured. “This is completely my choice. I want to help however I can.”

“....You’re a strange one, you know that?” Alex asked. 

“Heh, it’s part of my charm,” Zeb declared, puffing out his chest, a laugh bursting from Alex that he quickly tried to stifle with little success. “See? You find it charmin’.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Alex said with a smirk. 

“Oi!” Zeb playfully cried, teasingly hitting his arm lightly, Alex bursting out laughing again. How long had it been since he’d laughed so much? “See? I’m charmin’ and funny!” 

“Alright hotshot,” Alex said, still chuckling. “Want to help out so badly? Start by cleaning up your little water spill.”

“I mean….suppose that’s fair,” Zeb grumbled, picking up the mop and getting to work cleaning up the water, Alex easily continuing to work around Zeb in a dance that Zeb hoped to learn the steps to. 

While Zeb cleaned Alex worked on rolling out a massive crust for some sort of bar it looked like. 

“What is that?” Zeb curiously asked. 

“It’s for a lemon bar,” Alex said. “I hate making them but they are very popular.” 

“What’s bad about these bars?” Zeb curiously asked. 

“Removing them from the pan is a nightmare and they are so easy to mess up,” Alex groaned. “But again people love these damn things.”

“Well people can go pound sand!” Zeb declared, Alex rolling his eyes with a snort. “I mean if it's difficult why do it to yourself?”

“They sell well,” Alex said as he started using dough scraps to close cracks in the crust. 

“Still think that’s stupid,” Zeb grumbled. “I hope you don’t plan on finishing those today?”

“No but I might as well get the crust prepped to bake tomorrow,” Alex said. 

“There is so much weird stuff you do in bakeries,” Zeb mumbled. 

“Yes,” Alex agreed. “But I imagine with your work it’s the same...I don’t think I ever asked….what do you do?” 

“Huh? Oh, I’m a wood carver,” Zeb replied. 

“Oh really?” Alex asked. 

“Yea I own the show a few blocks from here.” Zeb continued, Alex freezing, eyes wide.

“....Lyste brought me a carving-” Alex began. 

“Yea that was mine,” Zeb said, explaining when Alex gave him a confused look, “I saw it in yer office.”

“Right,” Alex said, shaking his head. “...so how are you not constantly drowning in work?”

“I watch the shop myself very little,” Zeb said. “I also have someone who helps with the administrative stuff.”

“That’s what Lyste did,” Alex admitted. “Does. What Lyste does.”

“Yea,” Zeb said as Alex took the now finished crust into the walk in refrigerator. “You ever afraid you’ll get trapped in there?” 

“....I mean….there safety measures to limit that risk,” Alex slowly said.

“You didn’t answer the question.” Zeb said with a raised eyebrow. 

“Being scared of that is silly!” Alex said as he pulled trays from the oven, shutting the oven off once he confirmed everything was finished.

“Silly or not you can’t control what you’re afraid of,” Zeb said with a shrug. 

“Maybe not but it would be a silly fear to have.” Alex firmly said as he took his apron off. 

Zeb chose not to respond to Alex’s comment, instead asking, “So...ya actually headin’ home?”

“...Yes I am,” Alex said. 

“Good, I’ll walk ya out.” Zeb said. 

“You don’t-”

“I like talkin’ to you,” Zeb sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. 

“Oh!” Alex exclaimed, expression softening, “Well...alright. Let me lock the front doors and we can head out the back.”

“Okay,” Zeb said, watching as Alex walked back out front to lock the doors and shut the lights off before meeting Zeb in the kitchen, the pair walking out the back door together, Alex taking a moment to ensure it was locked before they made their way to the parking lot in companionable silence, Zeb letting Alex lead the way to his car. 

“I truly appreciate this,” Alex said once they reached what Zeb assumed was his car, an older black sedan that clearly had seen better days. 

“You’re welcome,” Zeb said, flashing Alex a smile which he gratefully returned. “Now go on and get some sleep.”

“I will,” Alex assured, fully stepping into his car and pulling it shut, Zeb stepping away, watching as he started it and pulled out of the parking lot before making his way over to his truck, pride swelling in his chest. He’d done good today. He only hoped he could continue to do so.


	7. A Much Needed Visit

It was clear Alex was desperate to visit Lyste at the hospital and to see how he was doing. Despite how painfully obvious it was Alex wanted to go, Zeb was having an extremely hard time actually getting him to go. For three days every time Zeb called him to check up, he had some excuse about not being able to go for one reason or another, be it he had too much work or he was exhausted or he thought Lyste’s family was there. 

Zeb could hear in his voice how not visiting Lyste was eating him alive, so why was he not just going? It was clear he needed it. So why wasn’t he taking whatever opportunity or just making one for himself?

It made absolutely no sense to Zeb, so if Alex wouldn’t he would just have to step in and take matters into his own hands. Once Ketsu arrived at the shop, Zeb quickly bid his farewell, ignoring any of her hastily thrown questions about his big project or any other work he may have not finished. He was a man on a mission. 

The drive to the bakery was relatively short, leaving him little time to try and plan what he would say to convince Alex to actually go like he so clearly wanted. He would likely have to close the shop early which wasn’t great for business, but for his own mental health he would like to think people would understand. 

It wouldn’t be easy, but it would hopefully be worth it, Alex needed this, he needed to know how his friend was doing, and this was the only way to do it. So engrossed in his thoughts as he walked in, Zeb almost didn’t register that it was Wedge instead of Alex standing at the counter. 

“Hey Zeb!” Wedge nervously greeted, glancing towards the back where Alex likely was. “What brings you over here?”

Feeling sheepish at realizing how he had acted last time he was here with Wedge, Zeb said, 

“I uh, I’m here to talk to Alex, we uh- we talked things out a few days ago and he mentioned what happened to his business partner and I wanted to see if I could do anything to help him, you know, be able to actually visit?”

“Oh!” Wedge said, eyes widening for a moment before lighting up. 

“I’m glad you two talked things out! We’ve been trying to convince him to head out early one of these days but...he keeps coming up with excuses and we have no idea why.”

“I might have a few guesses.” Zeb gruffly said. “Can you grab him? Let me see if I can talk some sense into him?”

“Yeah, be right back!” Wedge said, quickly walking into the back, leaving Zeb awkwardly by himself to shuffle his feet, straining his ears to see if he could hear anything. They were too far away however, their voices too muffled for him to be able to catch any part of the conversation. 

Soon though two pairs of footsteps came up to the front, a confused looking Alex walking over to Zeb asking,

“Uh...Wedge said you needed to speak to me?”

“Yea,” Zeb said, squaring up his shoulders and asking, “Why haven’t you gone to visit Lyste?”

Face draining of color, Alex’s eyes widened as he took in Zeb’s serious expression and unmoving figure, slowly deflating as he bowed his head in shame. 

“I-I...I can’t,” Alex whispered, so softly Zeb was barely able to hear him. 

“Why?” Zeb asked. 

“I just have so much-”

“None of that bullshit,” Zeb sternly said. “Cuz you and I both know work is not the issue here.”

Alex looked up at Zeb, glancing nervously towards the back before letting out a heavy sigh, refusing to meet Zeb’s gaze.

“I don’t know if I can face Lyste’s family,” Alex softly admitted, squeezing his eyes shut. “They hate me...they only...tolerated me because of Lyste...and...without him I just- I don’t know what to do or expect or...I’m terrified...how ridiculous do I sound?”

Zeb’s entire demeanor softened at Alex’s honestly, placing a warm reassuring hand on his shoulder and tightly squeezing it. “I don’t know your history with them or why they hate you so much but I can tell you right now whatever it is, is total bullshit.” 

“....I…” Alex screwed his eyes shut and whispered. “Logically I know it is but...my parents always agreed with them on this and well...I never really got along with my family or his…” 

“Wait even your family thought less of you?” Zeb asked, mentally starting to piece together what he was trying to get at without saying it, but also not wanting to be the one to say it outloud in case he didn’t feel safe doing so.

“Homophobes tend to be that way,” Alex grumbled, tensing as he realized what he had inadvertently admitted. 

“I admit, I was blessed,” Zeb whispered. “My gran, she swore she would always love me no matter what and she really did. When I told her I was bi she was so happy I felt safe enough to tell her and told me anyone I brought home just better live up to her standards and love me as much as she did.” 

“I wish I had someone in my life like that,” Alex admitted. 

“Well...you do now,” Zeb firmly said. “I’m here, I’ve got you back, and I am not leaving you to face off against, or with those homophobes alone.”

“I-I couldn’t ask you to-”

“I want to,” Zeb assured. “Facing something like this is terrifying and I want to make sure you’re not only safe but actually are allowed to see him. He’s your friend and business partner and they have no right to keep you away, no matter how they feel about your life choices.” 

“Thank you,” Alex whispered, flashing Zeb a grateful smile. 

“Come on, I’ll drive.” Zeb gently said. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to make you wait-”

“I don’t mind,” Zeb assured. “I can sketch out ideas for a commission piece.” 

“...if you’re sure it’s not too much trouble-”

“It’s not,” Zeb assured. 

“Don’t worry, I can handle closing!” Wedge added, Alex turning to gratefully smile at Wedge before facing Zeb again to say,

“Alright, let me get out of this apron.” Alex’s entire demeanor looking more relaxed than before as he walked into the back, Zeb unable to help himself as he beamed in pride. This was going far better than expected, but Zeb knew the fight was far from over. This had only been the first hurdle, and from what he’d just learned about Lyste’s family, it was only going to get harder from here. 

He would not back down now though. Alex needed this, he needed to be there for Lyste through this, he would never be able to forgive himself if he didn’t. The pair fell silent as they walked to Zeb’s car, Alex’s nerves clearly starting to get the better of him again, Zeb similarly struggling to figure out how to best tackle this next hurdle. 

If luck was on their side, Lyste’s family wouldn’t be there, however Zeb had a sinking feeling they would not be so lucky. He knew from experience being with your loved one was one of the only ways one could stay sane when worrying about them. Even if they couldn’t do anything, just being there with them helped. 

Not knowing Lyste’s family made it hard to plan a best approach, all he could really do was go in open minded and roll with the punches as they came, trying to plan what he would do could accidentally backfire and make things worse than they needed to be. 

Luckily for Zeb once they arrived, Alex seemed to know where he needed to go to reach where Lyste was, Zeb’s stomach dropping as they entered the ICU. The crash was apparently far worse than Zeb had initially realized. What shape was Lyste in? None of the staff paid them any mind, the pair making their way towards one of the rooms, Alex’s frame shrinking down involuntarily as if to try and make himself smaller to hide from someone’s gaze. 

“Hey!” A cold voice snapped. “Where are you going?” Alex’s eyes screwed shut as he took a deep breath, slowly turning to face the person who spoke, a woman in her late twenties, another man close behind her, both scowling at Alex who, took an involuntary step back, Zeb placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezing it. 

“I was hoping to see Lyste-””

“You shouldn’t have bothered,” The man said. “The whole family is here and we’ve already planned out everyone’s turns to visit for the rest of the day-”

“So what?” Zeb couldn’t help but snarl, “You lot have had him all to yourselves for four days!”

“And?” The woman snapped. “He’s my brother! What right does he have to visit him! All he cares about is dragging poor Yogar back to work as soon as possible! He needs time to recover!” 

“Alex has been worried sick about Lyste,” Zeb snapped, keeping his hand on Alex’s shoulder to keep him from fleeing, feeling the slight tremble of Alex’s frame beneath his hand. “They’re friends and friends have just as much of a right to visit as family does.”

“Well not toda-”

“Yes today,” Zeb snapped. “Right now in fact. He works long hours to keep up with the load to make up for one of his coworkers being gone and does not have the luxury to sit around the hospital all day like you lot do.” 

“We do not-”

“He doesn’t have the luxury of planning ahead when he can visit, so you better damn well shut your trap and let him visit when he can,” Zeb continued, meeting her icy gaze with his own of equally burning rage. He didn’t care if these bigots hated him, he would die a happy man if he never saw them again, but he would face them as many times as he needed to for Alex’s sake. 

She actually took a small step back in nervousness, even her arm candy unable to gather the courage to say anything in response to Zeb who took that as his queue to lead Alex into the room before they could get any sort of response out. No need to put up with their shit any longer than necessary. 

When they walked in, they were met with two teenagers who upon seeing Alex, quickly scurried to their feet.

“You don’t have to leave,” Alex gently said to the pair, the girl shaking her head to say, 

“Grandma will be mad if we stay,” quickly taking the boy’s arm and leaving before either could respond. Alex reluctantly turned his gaze to the bed where Lyste was laying completely motionless, a whole mess of tubes and wires attached to him from different machines and monitors. 

“Lyste,” Alex whispered, sinking into the nearest chair, starting to reach out to take Lyste’s hand before freezing, slowly looking his still and pale frame up and down in worry. 

“It’s okay,” A soft voice assured, Alex jumping to his feet in shock, whipping around to face the nurse who jumped back at the sudden movement. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you! I just wanted to assure you it’s okay to hold his hand, just don’t touch any of the wires or tubes.”

“I-okay,” Alex nervously said. 

“You can talk to him too,” The nurse said. “Some doctors believe hearing the voices of their loved one’s helps coma patients recover faster.”

“...do you think so?” Alex whispered as he slowly said down in the chair once more, carefully taking Lyste’s still hand in his own. 

“It certainly helps their loved ones,” She softly said as she went around to do a few checks, writing something on her clipboard before leaving.

“Hey Lyste,” Alex awkwardly began. “Sorry I haven’t been to see you sooner...I know it was….cruel to leave you just with your family I just…” Zeb could hear the tears in Alex’s voice as he continued, “I just felt so ashamed. I-I...I know you wouldn’t blame me but I just- I can’t help but wonder what I could have done to prevent you from hurting. I’m so sorry this happened to you. You did not deserve to have to suffer through this and I am so sorry.” Zeb placed a reassuring hand on Alex’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, Alex’s other hand gratefully resting on top of it for a moment before taking Lyste’s hand, cradling it as if he feared accidentally hurting him further. “There are so many things I wish I could go back and do differently if I could…I should have sent your mother packing...lied and said you were going out to get lunch already o-or where in a meeting or even just gotten the food myself anything to keep you off the road in the state you where in-” Alex cut himself off, taking a shaky breath, “I can’t change what happened...all I can do is promise you that I will keep the bakery going until you’ve healed. So don’t worry, take the time you need to rest, when you’re ready I will be waiting to welcome you back okay?”

“I’ll keep an eye on him so he doesn’t burn himself out,” Zeb assured. “I don’t think you remember me but uh you came to my shop and bought that cupcake...there's a great story for that one….and I’ll tell you when you wake up.”

“There is?” Alex asked, looking back at Zeb in surprise. 

“Yep,” Zeb said. “But I can’t tell you.”

“Why’s that?” Alex asked. 

“Lyste’s gotta hear the story first!” 

“Ah I see how it is,” Alex said, a weak smirk playing on his lips. 

“Look I gotta give Lyste somethin’ to look forward to!”

“I can’t argue with that,” Alex admitted with a weak chuckle, glancing back at Lyste, the mirth leaving his body in one weak exhale, everything about him slumping forward. “....just promise me you will wake up okay?” Lyste unsurprisingly did not respond, the silence leaving Alex unable to do anything but be swallowed up by it. 

“He will wake up,” Zeb firmly said. “He’s a tough guy. Just like you are.” A weak smile returning to Alex’s face. 

“Thank you Zeb….for everything.”

“It was nothin’-” Zeb nervously began, reaching to awkwardly rub the back of his neck. 

“No,” Alex interrupted. “It wasn’t, Isn’t. I don’t know if I would be here without your help.”

“I think you would have but, I am happy to help, whatever you need.”

“Thank you Zeb,” Alex repeated, flashing him a smile that left his heart fluttering. He told himself he was just happy to help a friend, but all he could think about was that smile, warm yet shy, conveying so much thanks and gratefulness into it. 

“Course,” Zeb assured. “I’ll come with you as many times as you need me to okay? Just give me a call whenever.”

“I-I don’t want to-”

“You’re not imposing,” Zeb firmly said. “So don’t worry about that.”

“...how could I ever thank you?”

“There's no need,” Zeb assured. 

“Thank you, regardless,” Alex whispered, focusing back on Lyste. “It….feels odd speaking to him when he can’t respond…” Zeb honestly didn’t know how to respond to that. “But if it helps….I can try….”

“Sometimes all you can do is try to do what you feel is right. Just one step at a time.” Alex gave an affirmative hum before softly saying,

“I started advertising for the summer month specials...people are already so excited for them...I suppose I should have trusted you when you said my ideas would be a hit...you’ve always made me feel so confident in my baking skills, especially when my family tried everything they could to make me doubt them and give up on my dream...I’ve realized though...I love the bakery still and would certainly do it all over again but really the most important part was just being able to work every day with my best friend.” Alex took a weak shuttering breath and whispered, “I just hope I can again soon.” 

Zeb wanted to reassure him, to promise that he would soon be working again along his best friend, but he knew the reassurance would sound hollow, they both knew he couldn’t really know that. He couldn’t make things with his or Lyste’s family better, and he certainly couldn’t wake Lyste up, but he could at least be there to support Alex through it all. It was the least he could do after all for him.


	8. Breakthrough's

The following weeks passed by in a blur for Zeb, spending most of the day in his shop before swinging by the bakery to check and see if Alex was still working or not. If he was, which unfortunately was most of the time, Zeb would stick around and help out in any way he could. Almost always that meant sweeping up out front and finishing up any dishes Alex hadn’t gotten to yet. He knew his family was getting worried about him not only working at his shop but also helping out at the bakery, but he couldn’t in good conscience leave Alex to try and pull this off all alone. 

It wasn’t his job to do, but it tore him to shreds seeing how completely worn down and exhausted Alex was. He was pushing himself to his limit and it was quickly burning him out. Someone needed to step in, and if no one else would, then Zeb would. 

It was on one such day when Zeb managed to get to the bakery a few minutes before closing. Rather than wait in his car, Zeb awkwardly wandered into the bakery, finding the front empty of anyone including Alex. Glancing at the display cases, Zeb noted how empty they were, no cookies, just a few cupcakes and a couple of bars left. Even the fridge which held premade cakes was cleaned out. 

“Just a moment!” Alex called from somewhere in back. 

“No rush, it’s just me,” Zeb called back. 

“Oh,” Alex said, poking his head out from the back of the shop. 

“Well uh…. No need for you to wait out front, come on back.”

“Really?” Zeb asked. 

“Yeah,” Alex assured with a soft smile. “Come on.” Beaming, Zeb walked over to the opening in the counter and slipped into the back.

“Feel free to sit in the office until we close up,” Alex said from the counter where he was hard at work frosting some cupcakes. 

“Seems a little late in the day to be prepping cupcakes,” Zeb said as he settled down, setting down his sketchbook to look over his designs once more for his big commission. 

“It’s for an order that’s being picked up soon,” Alex said. “Running a bit behind, the place has been swamped all day.”

“I can tell, you’re cleaned out.” Zeb commented. 

“Makes clean up quicker,” Alex said, swirling frosting on the last cupcake before closing the box they were settled in, walking towards the office, leaning against the doorframe to watch Zeb, “What about you? You’re earlier than usual.” 

“Oh yea, well my cover was there so I decided to head out a little early,” Zeb said with a shrug. 

“I...I won’t assume it was for me but if it was….please don’t feel like you have to do so-”

“I wasn’t, I mean I came here to help you and I like helpin’ you out I just mean I sometimes just leave early if I’m stuck on somethin’ and want to focus.”

“Oh…” Alex slowly said, “Are you stuck on something?”

“Somethin’ I’ve been stuck on fer weeks.” Zeb admitted. 

“I’m all ears if you think talking might help,” Alex said. 

“You don’t mind?” Zeb hopefully asked. 

“Lay it on me,” Alex said. 

“Okay,” Zeb said, reluctantly handing his sketchbook to Alex who carefully took it, examining the open page. “I have this commission for this new fancy hotel that’s openin’ up later this year. The commission is for the centerpiece of the lobby and it’s massive, probably the biggest piece I’ve ever done.”

“That’s got to be terrifying,” Alex said, glancing up from the book to give Zeb a sympathetic look. 

“It is,” Zeb admitted, running a hand through his hair. “I want to do this right ya know? If I do well this could do wonders fer my business.”

“I can imagine,” Alex agreed. “I’m not sure about wood carving, but at least for wedding cakes we get very detailed instructions of what the customer wants to ensure that they’re happy...what did the customer tell you?” 

“I usually do! There are preliminary sketches that need to be made, approvals- but this guy tells me ‘wolf’ and nothing else! Says they want me te surprise ‘em on the day of the grand openin’!”

“That seems rather odd,” Alex said with a frown. “What if they don’t like it?”

“Yea that’s what I said!” Zeb groaned. “This guy didn’t even seem concerned about that.”

“That is certainly concerning,” Alex agreed. “But maybe he doesn’t know for sure what he wants? Did you at least get to see the space so you know what you’re working with?”

“Yea, I got a tour of the hotel,” Zeb said. “It’s gorgeous and I really am worried my piece won’t live up ta expectations ya know?”

“I’m sure you will,” Alex encouragingly said. “These sketches are wonderful.” He added as he flicked to the next page, “This one is quite nice.”

“Which one?” Zeb curiously asked. 

“This one here,” Alex said, showing the piece Zeb himself had kept going back to, the wolf with the forest etched into his side.

“That one’s my favorite too but….I’m worried it's a little too abstract for such a high end place.”

“Well...isn’t abstract art high end anyways?” Alex curiously asked. “I imagine carving a full 3D forest scene would be extremely difficult so this would nicely marry the two.”

“...what if they hate it?” Zeb mumbled. 

“My parents always told me...to achieve one’s dreams, one has to be willing to take risks to get there. If you do something expected, it won’t stand out as much as something that uniquely speaks to you and your skills.” 

“...You have a good point there,” Zeb mumbled, staring at the sketch book, it had been the piece his hands kept itching to bring to life, the design that had spoken most to him like no other really did. 

“So maybe you should take the risk and do make what you really want to since you’re not really being given any sort of direction,” Alex continued, snapping Zeb out of his thoughts. 

“I never said this was what I wanted to make!”

“No,” Alex agreed. “But your sketches did.”

“Huh?” Zeb said, glancing down at his sketchbook, trying to riddle out what he meant, flipping through the other pages for his commission, it quickly became obvious what Alex meant. Most of his sketches were rudimentary lined sketches with little detail while the piece he wanted to do was far more detailed with more notes and pre work done for it. “Ah.” Zeb said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, earning a warm chuckle from Alex saying, 

“Sometimes your hands know what you want to do before your mind even does.”

“....yea…” Zeb mumbled, staring down at the sketch, his resolve building. Yes, this was the piece he would make. This would be the piece that marked who he was as a carver. 

“Do you need to go?” Alex softly asked. 

“Go?” Zeb asked, confused. 

“Work on your big piece,” Alex clarified. “I understand completely, this is important-”

“Nah,” Zeb assured, closing the sketch book and setting it aside. “I left already fer the day, I can start on this when I’m fresh tomorrow.”

“Well please don’t work yourself to death on my behalf,” Alex said.

“I won't, I promise,” Zeb said, a bell chiming.

“Be right back,” Alex said, stepping out of the office to head out front, the bell apparently signaling a guest coming into the shop. Zeb stretched his arms up over his head, letting out a loud yawn. Yeah, he probably couldn’t stay until Alex went to bed for the night today, as much as it pained Zeb to say so. When Zeb didn’t stay, Alex tended to sleep in the bakery instead of going home like a sane human should. 

He hated to leave, but he also knew Alex was right, he needed to make sure he was taking care of himself first. He couldn’t help anyone if he passed out from exhaustion. It would hit hard for revenue, but maybe he could convince Alex to close the bakery one day a week. He'd seen dozens of mom and pop bakeries do so and still be successful, why couldn’t Alex? Even as just a temporary measure. Sure some people would be upset but he imagined given the extenuating circumstances most guests would understand. 

Well, Zeb certainly hoped they would. 

Zeb heard Alex quickly walk into the back and grab the box he had just finished before going back up front to talk to the guest. Zeb awkwardly stood up and wandered into the kitchen, trying to see if there was anything he could help out with. 

As per usual, Zeb was met with a significant pile of dishes. Well that was something he could confidently tackle. Grabbing a sponge Zeb got to work scrubbing down the dishes in the sink. Zeb couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking about how far he’d come since he first stumbled back here with an unconscious Alex in the office scrambling to try and figure out what he was doing. 

“Well that was the last order that needed to be picked up so I went ahead and locked up-” Alex began, freezing when he saw Zeb scrubbing dishes. 

“Good,” Zeb said, glancing up at Alex who was giving him a strange look. 

“You don’t have to keep doing this,” Alex softly said. 

“I want to,” Zeb said with a shrug. 

“I should at least be paying you-”

“Spendin’ time with you is payment enough,” Zeb said without even thinking about the implications of his words, ducking his head to hide his blush.

“I uh...thank you,” Alex mumbled. “It means a lot to me but….it doesn’t feel right still.”

“Well you helped me with my commission,” Zeb said as he got back to work scrubbing a large mixing bowl that reached above Zeb’s knee, the machine it belonged to reaching Zeb’s chest. “What do you make that needs a monster like this?”

Alex blinked rapidly, slightly shaking his head before saying, “Uh, frosting.”

“You use this much frosting?”

“Depending on how many cakes I have to make, I sometimes have to make two or even three batches a day.”

“....Seriously?” Zeb asked.

“And a single batch fills that bowl up to the very top,” Alex continued. 

“Holy- you serious?” Zeb incredulously asked, earning a laugh from Alex. 

“And that’s just one type of frosting,” Alex continued. 

“How many do you have?” Zeb gasped. 

“On a regular basis four,” Alex said, Zeb’s jaw dropping at the realization. “Certain times of year giving an extra.”

“They all make a batch that fills this monster?”

“No not all, the others use the smaller mixer,” Alex said. The “smaller” mixer still having a bowl that, while smaller significantly from the large one, still was as tall as Zeb’s arm was long.. 

“Shit.” Zeb mumbled. 

“The other three frostings I usually only make about once a week since they aren’t as popular,” Alex said as he walked into the walk in fridge, likely to start on his evening bake for all of the baked goods he liked to have ready to sell first thing in the morning like scones and cookies for any orders to be picked up first thing in the morning. 

“What frostings are there?” Zeb asked when Alex returned. “I know about cream cheese and buttercream.” 

“Cream cheese is one,” Alex said with a chuckle as he dragged out the rack filled with pre scooped cookie dough for multiple different cookies. “But buttercream is actually pretty vague as there are many types.”

“Seriously?” Zeb groaned, Alex laughing as he got to working prepping trays. 

“Yes, there’s American and French buttercream and the last regular frosting is salted caramel.” 

“Wait wait what’s the difference?” Zeb asked.

“American is thicker and much sweeter while french is much softer and not as sweet. French buttercream has eggs and only uses butter-”

“I thought raw eggs weren't safe to eat!” Zeb asked. 

“I mean technically-”

“Do you cook the frosting?” Zeb asked. 

“Well no that would melt it-”

“So why is that frosting okay but not cookie dough?” Zeb demanded, Alex bursting out laughing and Zeb’s tone. 

“It’s just one of those things you accept-”

“But I want to eat cookie dough without people warning me about salmonella!” Zeb exclaimed. 

“How about this, I won’t judge you for eating raw cookie dough,” Alex gently said. 

“...fine,” Zeb grumbled, going back to cleaning the bowl. “But I am not happy about it!”

“Would a cookie help?” Alex softly asked. 

“...maybe,” Zeb mumbled. 

“How about this, as thank you for helping me clean up and as an apology for everyone who told you, you couldn’t eat cookie dough I’ll bake an extra cookie for you.”

“...Really?” Zeb asked, perking up. 

“Yes,” Alex said. “I keep dough that isn’t quite big enough to sell but I still feel bad tossing out...let me see…” 

“Oh so I’m not good enough fer a real cookie,” Zeb teasingly said. 

“Would two make you feel better?” Alex deadpanned.

“If one is for you,” Zeb said, earning another warm chuckle from Alex. 

“I suppose I can treat myself….”

“You gotta or you’ll go insane!” Zeb declared.

“That’s assuming I haven’t already,” Alex mumbled. 

“See? All the more reason to indulge yerself!”

“You have a surprising addiction to sugar,” Alex said with a raised eyebrow.

“....You don’t eat enough sugar fer a baker!” Zeb fired back. 

“I can’t be eating everything I make!” Alex cried. 

“Isn’t that one of the perks of being a baker?”

“No it’s the downside, I see delicious food I can’t eat,” Alex corrected. 

“That’s dumb, can’t you eat scraps!”

“Well...I mean sometimes but often I use that for samples like with breads or I find another use for it,” Alex admitted. 

“Like do you make cake pops from the leftover cake batter?” Zeb asked. 

“Cake batter I usually convert into cupcakes actually,” Alex admitted. “But the cake tops we turn into cake pops.”

“Oh….why cut them off if they’re perfectly good cake?” Zeb asked. 

“For looks mostly,” Alex admitted. “Also for stacked cakes stacking a cake with its top would not work.”

“Right,” Zeb sheepishly said. 

“It’s the same reason flour is bleached, for looks only,” Alex grumbled. 

“I thought you would want bleached flour as a baker?” Zeb asked. 

“It’s just so unnecessary!” Alex exclaimed. “Unbleached flour isn’t that different from bleached, I mean bleached is obviously whiter but in reality unbleached is not that much darker.” Alex bent over and dug through the freezer to grab a handful of scones to bake off along with the cookies.

“Do you use unbleached flour?” Zeb curiously asked. 

“...for everything but wedding cakes,” Alex sighed. 

“Why wedding cakes?”

“People are very particular about vanilla wedding cakes being pure white,” Alex grumbled. “Why does it matter if they taste the same!”

“You haven’t had issues with bridezillas before have you?” Zeb asked with a laugh.

“Yeah, of course not why would you think otherwise?” Alex asked with an eyeroll, Zeb chuckling as he continued cleaning dishes, the pair falling into a companionable silence as Alex worked on preparing everything for tomorrow. 

“I think I’ll call this guy monstro,” Zeb declared as he awkwardly got the massive bowl for the large mixer settled, patting the top of it like he was patting its head. 

“Wait, what?” Alex asked, glancing up from what he was doing.

“There are too many mixers so they need names to tell them apart!” Zeb said. 

“Zeb they aren’t even yours you can’t just name them-”

“And this guy will be junior,” Zeb said, patting the top of the smaller of the two mixers. 

“Didn’t you say that one was also enormous?” Alex asked. “Why call it junior?”

“Because it’s the smaller of them,” Zeb declared. 

“That doesn’t-”

“Too late, it's official,” Zeb said. “Monstro and junior.”

“Whatever you say, Garazeb,” Alex said with an eyeroll, fighting down a small smile. 

Seeing that smile was the greatest gift Zeb could ever ask for, he could only hope Alex would bless him with it more often.


	9. A Date?

Alex couldn’t have known when Zeb first started helping out, but his help was truly a blessing for Alex. The couple of hours he could give whenever he stopped by actually was allowing Alex to go home and sleep rather than sleep at the bakery. He still spent more time tired than not and the near constant state of being at work was still draining him, but sleeping at home was worlds better than before, and Alex had learned very early on to take whatever blessings he could get wherever he could find them. 

And Zeb truly was a blessing. 

He had this ability to make him relax and laugh like only Lyste really could. He was a soothing presence that could melt Alex’s worries away. He was patient, understanding and willing to do just about whatever needed to be done to help him. He cared more than most anyone ever had. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve Zeb’s friendship, but it was truly a blessing to have. 

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle thinking about what Lyste would say about this whole thing. See I told you, you could make friends! Or, So...have you made a move yet? Alex ducked his head further over his broom as he continued sweeping to hide his sudden blush from Zeb. Oh how Lyste would mercilessly tease him in this situation if he were here. Innuendos left and right about how long before they kissed or he let Zeb have his naughty way with him in the back-

“If ya knew all of this would happen….” Zeb slowly began, snapping Alex out of his dirty thoughts, him willing his cheeks to cool, “would you still do it?” 

“Do what?” Alex asked, silently scolding himself for missing whatever Zeb had said to lead up to this question. Zeb was only here to help him out! Zeb clearly did not see him in any other way!

“Open this place up I mean,” Zeb said, gesturing to the building. 

“Yes,” Alex said without hesitating, leaning against his broom with a wistful smile on his face. “This place has always been my dream. I knew it would be a lot of hard work but….I can’t see myself doing anything else with my life. I love baking and...seeing my food making people happy, even for just a moment…” Alex didn’t know how to describe the feeling. He loved what he did….even if it was so difficult to make his dream a reality, he wanted to do this. He would find a way to make this work. “Sorry I, uh- I got-” Alex trailed off, freezing when he saw how Zeb was looking with him. 

A warm, almost tender smile clearly directed at him. But why? What was special about him?

Seemingly realizing Alex had noticed him staring shakes his head and ducks it, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. “Uh, no need to apologize,” Zeb quickly said, nervously scrubbing the table he was standing by. 

“I uh- I don’t want to bore you-” Alex mumbled. 

“You’re not!” Zeb hurriedly said. 

“Oh,” Alex said, awkwardly scuffling one foot on the ground. “Well, uh, good, good….”

“Yeah….” Zeb mumbled uncertainly, trailing off. “Have you….I dunno, considered maybe closing for a day or two a week?”

“Huh?” Alex asked with a raised eyebrow. “Why would I do that?”

“Just so you can actually rest, you know, instead of constantly workin’!” Zeb exclaimed. “You are always here workin’ and it can’t be good fer ya! I mean most smaller bakeries like this one are closed a couple days a week, hell, even Chava wasn’t open all week!” 

“Well….Lyste and I-”

“Lyste isn’t here though!” Zeb exclaimed. “Sorry, I just….for yer own health….it might be good to consider it, okay?”

“....I’ll consider it,” Alex reluctantly agreed, earning a wide grin from Zeb. 

“That’s all I ask,” Zeb said, pausing before hopefully asking, “Got any scraps of anything you can bake? I’m starving!” Earning a laugh from Alex. 

“Ah, I see how it is, you only want to help me for the free food!”

“Aw, yea, saw right through me! Coming here to help out was a ploy for free food!”

“I suppose it is hard to argue giving you something after all the help you’ve done,” Alex softly said, Zeb radiating happiness at Alex’s words. “Have you tried our cheddar scones?”

“No, but I want to!” Zeb exclaimed, Alex chuckling as he pulled one of the smaller frozen scones made from scraps of his last batch. 

“I think you’ll love this one.”

\--------

Zeb didn’t know what, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that something was bothering Alex. He tried to hide it, plastering on a fake smile when he thought Zeb was looking, but the second he thought no one was looking the smile would fade away, leaving a dead look in his eyes, as if he had completely lost all will to keep going. 

That look terrified Zeb more than he could properly articulate. He needed to do something to bring a real smile back to Alex’s face. Maybe he just hadn’t had a chance to have fun recently? Despite his helping out, Zeb could imagine he didn’t get much time to himself when he got home, he had to cook, eat, and then probably he had to then sleep. 

Everyone needed a chance sometimes to let loose and have fun. But how could Zeb help him have fun while he was working? As Zeb was putting monstro back on his base, he noticed a bowl of flour carefully perched on the counter beside the bowl. Clearly he was using it to sprinkle his workbench as he worked on biscuits. 

A mischievous smile spreading across his face, Zeb grabbed a fistfull of flour while Alex’s back was turned and threw it all over Alex, who whirled around in confusion, trying to figure out who or what covered him in flour, freezing when he saw Zeb standing behind him laughing hysterically. 

“Wha-”

“It’s a joke!” Zeb said, in between fits of laughter, Alex slowly blinking at him in confusion before suddenly, throwing a fistful of flour back at Zeb’s face, who gasped in shock, gagging on flour immediately afterwards in between Alex’s own laughter. Through the tears, Zeb couldn’t help but smile, Alex was laughing. 

“Got ya!” Alex exclaimed as Zeb straightened up. 

“Hey! Don’t ya care I could've died!”

“Of flour?” Alex breathlessly asked. 

“I could have choked on it!” Zeb declared, fighting back a grin. 

“You started it,” Alex said in between fits of giggling. 

“Oh yea? Well I’m gonna finish it!” Zeb cried, picking up the bowl of flour Alex had and dumping it over his head, Alex gasping in horror for a moment before grabbing some of the flour off his head and throwing it at Zeb who danced away from Alex who started laughing as he chased him, flour falling off of him onto the flour, leaving a trail of powder behind him as they ran towards the sink, zeb splashing Alex with soapy water when he got close, Alex shouting as he was hit with the warm water. 

“Oi! Now you’ve crossed the line!” Alex declared in mock rage as he grabbed the hose for the sink. 

“Hey hey! No fair! High end weaponry!” Zeb cried.

“Nowhere to run n-”

“Hey um is everything okay….back….here….” Wedge slowly asked, looking between Alex and Zeb with confusion, Alex immediately releasing the hose as if it burned him, face bright red as he hastily said, 

“Uh yes everything’s fine.” Straightening out his apron as he refused to look either of them in the eye, Zeb shooting Wedge a death glare who quickly said,

“Uh right well uh have fun you two….?” Before quickly scurrying back to the front of the store leaving Alex and Zeb awkwardly standing by the sink, neither knowing what to say to move past the awkward moment. 

“I uh….apologize,” Alex slowly said after a minute of silence, refusing to meet Zeb’s gaze. “That uh- I got a little out of hand-”

“Nah,” Zeb quickly assured with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It was fun.”

“It was childish-”

“And fun,” Zeb said, laying a warm hand on Alex’s shoulder, who glanced at the hand for a brief moment before finally looking up at Zeb who flashed him a warm smile before squeezing his shoulder. “It was all in good fun which I thought you needed more of...but….that’s not really the problem is it?”

“Heh,” Alex mumbled, visibly deflating even more as he mumbled, “I can’t even fool you huh?”

“I don’t want you to pretend you’re okay if you’re not,” Zeb whispered. “If you’re hurting I want you to tell me.”

“It’s...not quite like that,” Alex admitted. “I just...I feel bad I haven’t seen Lyste in a few weeks and-”

“Wait, you haven’t seen him since we went together?” Zeb asked, stunned. He was so sure Alex was going on days Zeb wasn’t there. 

“...no,” Alex admitted, refusing to look Zeb in the eye. “I just- it’s so stupid I know I want to go but….I just talk myself out of it….”

“What’s the biggest thing holding you back?” Zeb gently ask.

“....I tell myself I don’t want to make things more tense with Lyste’s family or I’m just too busy.” Alex mumbled. 

“You are pretty busy,” Zeb soothingly said. “And things with his family are...not great, so I get why you feel this way….Would me coming with you help-?”

“I-I don’t want to impose!” Alex cried, frantically waving his hands. 

“It’s not imposin’ if I offer,” Zeb assured. 

“I just feel….weird asking….”

“Don’t,” Zeb firmly said. “I don’t mind goin’ with you. I enjoy spending time with you.”

“You do….?”

“Why else would I be here?” Zeb softly asked, Alex nervously ducking his head down. 

“I don’t know….”

“I mean sure the free food is nice,” Zeb teasingly said, Alex jerking his head up to glare at Zeb. “But the company is far better.” Alex’s eyes widened as he ducked his head, cheeks rosy from embarrassment. 

“You’re not gettin’ rid of me that easily...not unless you want to that is-”

“I don’t!” Alex quickly said, looking up at Zeb with wide eyes. “Not to say you have to I mean- I-I enjoy your company….quite a lot.”

“I’m glad,” Zeb mumbled. “Cuz I like yours too.” Alex awkwardly cleared his throat, clearly wanting to say something when the timer went off, startling both of them who glanced over at it in confusion for a moment before Alex ran for a pair of oven mitts to pull everything out of the oven, the silence completely filling the kitchen as Alex worked, turning off the oven when he confirmed everything was finished. 

“I just um….” Alex slowly began. “I don’t want to abuse your kindness-”

“It’s not!” Zeb almost frantically assured. He needed Alex to understand he wanted to do this. It wasn’t exactly a big deal to do after all. 

“...okay,” Alex whispered, a small grateful smile on his face as he finally looked up at Zeb.

“I’ll quickly finish cleaning up and then we can go,” Zeb said.

“I’ll check in with Wedge and make sure he’s okay for the afternoon,” Alex said. “I shouldn’t be long.” 

“Okay,” Zeb assured, going back over the sink to start quickly scrubbing the remaining dishes. While he was grateful Alex was agreeing to leave early to visit Lyste, he feared afterwards Alex may come back and work more or come in ridiculously early tomorrow to make up for it. He couldn’t really stop Alex from doing so, but he couldn’t help but worry. Sure now he was occasionally stopping to take care of himself, but was it really enough? He was still spending far too much time at work and not allowing himself to simply exist and live. Everyone needed some time to themselves to just relax and unwind, to do whatever it is that helped them relax and destress. If he kept this pace up he would completely and irreparable burn himself out….

No, Zeb wouldn’t let him. He just had to take baby steps, accept and be grateful for every small victory he got. He just needed to keep chipping away at the massive wall that Alex had built up, help him experience the little wonderful moments of life outside of work and really learn to just live again. It wouldn’t be easy, but nothing in life that was really worth it was. 

“Wedge assures me he’ll be alright for the evening,” Alex said as he returned to the kitchen, Zeb setting aside the final cookie sheet to dry. “Are you finished back here?”

“All done,” Zeb assured with a wide grin. “Shall we?”

“I’m ready,” Alex said with a shrug. 

“Should we drive over separately or-?” Zeb slowly began, Alex hurriedly starting to say,

“Well I still kind of feel bad about dragging you along-”

“You're not.” Zeb firmly said. 

“-So I was thinking maybe I could drive and afterwards get you some dinner as a thank you?”

“D-dinner?” Zeb stammered, butterflies forming in his stomach. Was Alex asking him on a date?

J-just as a thank you!” Alex quickly said, looking anywhere but Zeb. “I-I uh- I just feel bad you’re doing so much for me and I’m not really doing anything for you at all and it just feels weird and-”

“I told you I don’t mind,” Zeb softly assured. I don’t need anything at all Zeb thought to himself. All I want...is to be near you.

“I-I know I just….would you please let me do this for you?” Alex asked pleadingly, looking up at Zeb nervously, as though he feared Zeb would get angry at him. 

“I would love that,” Zeb softly said, realizing this was important to Alex. If it made Alex happy he certainly wouldn’t object to spending a little more time with Alex. At Zeb’s words, Alex’s face lit up, warming Zeb’s heart, bringing a tender smile to his face. The sudden overwhelming desire to lean down and kiss him flooded Zeb, and it took every ounce of willpower in him to stop himself from doing so. 

No. He would not dump his feelings onto Alex, not when he was in such a vulnerable emotional state. He needed a friend right now, he did not need to be thinking Zeb was just helping him out to try and get laid or something. Alex meant far too much to him to risk his friendship for the slim chance he might see Zeb the same way. And even if he did, it was likely he wouldn’t be ready to date yet anyways. 

Focusing on the moment, Zed forced those dangerous feelings down and said, 

“Lead the way.”

\----

Similarly to their last visit, Alex did not stay at the hospital with Lyste for nearly as long as Zeb expected him to. He supposed it being late and him wanting to keep his promise to Zeb of getting dinner may have somewhat played a role in it all, despite Zeb’s assurances he didn’t mind waiting as late as he needed to. There was also the unfortunate matter of Lyste’s family once again angrily prowling just outside of the room, clearly enraged by Alex’s mere presence and waiting to pounce whilst also rightfully afraid of Zeb. 

It might have been amusing if it wasn’t causing so much distress for Alex who kept glancing nervously back towards them, clearly barely keeping his focus on Lyste. Despite his wishes for Alex to be able to stay longer, he had to accept that him being at the hospital was causing a certain amount of distress for Alex that was quickly becoming overwhelming for him. 

Reluctantly, Zeb followed Alex out of the hospital who kept his head painfully low as they passed Lyste’s sneering family, Zeb flashing them a withering glare that at least momentarily cooled their flames, giving them the time to quickly exit. 

“I’m proud of you,” Zeb gently said once they reached the parking lot. 

“I hardly did anything noteworthy,” Alex spat. 

“I’d say not punching their faces was pretty badass,” Zeb said with a completely straight face, Alex freezing as Zeb’s words processed in his mind, fighting back a laugh. 

“Zeb!” Alex cried. “T-that’s horrible!”

“Yea you really should have punched them but I get it,” Zeb said with a shrug. “You’d get in trouble and-”

“Zeb!” Alex cried, fighting back laughter. 

“What? I’m just saying despite them deserving a good sockin’ you didn’t and that’s impressive.” Zeb said with a smirk on his face.

“Zeb- you are awful,” Alex said in between bursts of laughter that was music to Zeb’s ears. 

“Awfully good lookin’ you mean?” Zeb added without thinking, both freezing as their faces burned. Why had he said that? Alex is going to think he was completely full of himself and an ass an-

“I-I mean I certainly don’t disagree, but I uh- I-I meant that was u-uh kind of mean, b-b-but I do agree in some ways-” Alex stammered, looking anywhere but Zeb. 

“I uh- that’s fair,” Zeb awkwardly agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“S-shall we, uh, get going then?” Alex asked. “Places might start closing up soon.”

“Right, yes, let’s!” Zeb quickly said, grateful for the change in topic. 

“Is there any place in particular you like? Or anything you’re craving?”

“Not really….you?” Zeb slowly said. 

“Well...there's this nearby pizza place I like a lot?” Alex slowly said. 

“Sounds great,” Zeb said, trying to hide his relief. Pizza was good. Didn’t have any sort of romantic undertones. Perfect. 

“Great,” Alex said with a grin, the pair climbing into Alex’s car. “It’s not too far, luckily,” Alex continued as he started up the car. 

“Even if it was further I wouldn’t mind,” Zeb said with a shrug. I don’t mind spending more time with you. 

“Well I don’t want to take your entire evening,” Alex mumbled. 

“Got nothin’ better to do anyways.” Zeb said with a shrug. 

“Well still…” Alex mumbled.

“Seriously it’s cool,” Zeb assured. 

“I just worry….” Alex mumbled. “You’ve been...spending a lot of time with me lately and while I do enjoy it I feel bad and worry I’m taking you away from other important people in your life….”

“My family understands,” Zeb said with a shrug. “This is important.”

“I appreciate you helping,” Alex whispered. “But if you need to stop-”

“I won’t,” Zeb quickly said. 

“Just...don’t feel bad if you have to, okay?” Alex asked. 

“I will,” Zeb whispered, silently promising no matter how hard it got he wouldn’t. Not as long as Alex would let him be near. 

“Here we are,” Alex said as they pulled into the parking lot. The restaurant they pulled up to was a bit nicer than he expected a pizza place to be, however judging by the parking lot it was safe to assume that this was likely a high quality pizza place. “Hmmm….we could go somewhere else if-”

“I don’t mind waitin’” Zeb assured. “As long as it's good food.”

“It’s very good food,” Alex assured as they pulled into a spot. “It’s worth the wait in my book.”

“Sounds good to me.” Zeb assured. Luckily for them, despite being fairly full it seemed most everyone in the restaurant was finishing up their dinners, nearing the end of rush hour for the place. Alex walked over to the counter and said, “They sell more than pizza here, there are some fantastic pasta and sandwiches depending on what you feel like getting.”

“Chicken parm sounds pretty good actually.” Zeb admitted. 

“That sounds great,” Alex agreed. “That what you want to get?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Great.” Alex said, placing the order at the cashier and paying for both their meals. 

“You really don’t have t-”

“I want to,” Alex said, “Wanted to for awhile really….you’ve done so much for me and I want to make sure I properly thank you for it.”

“I really appreciate it,” Zeb mumbled, “I don’t feel like I deserve it but thank you.”

“Trust me, you deserve this and so much more,” Alex softly said, Zeb’s heart fluttering in his chest at the tenderly spoken words. 

“I don’t-”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Alex mumbled, his cheeks rosy. “Just uh- just keep being you.” Zeb could only weakly nodd, his knees weak from the affection dripping from Alex’s voice. “C-come on, I think a table opened up.” Alex quickly said, turning and hastily walking over to the table, Zeb shaking his head and following behind, mind still reeling from Alex’s words. 

Did Alex have feelings for him?

No, that was ridiculous, he’s just being kind to a friend. Nothing more. He’s got too much on his plate to be even thinking about dating right now. Just focus on enjoying this time with Alex. Swallowing thickly, Zeb slowly sat down at the table across from Alex who warmly smiled at him as he did so. 

At first, neither of them spoke, Alex seemingly waiting for Zeb to say something, but Zeb finding he couldn’t even think of speaking around the massive lump in his throat. What if he said something stupid that Alex took the wrong way? 

“I don’t think I ever asked,” Alex slowly began after a minute of awkward silence. “How did your family meet Chava?”

“Huh- oh!” Zeb said. “Honestly she was a friend of my parents so we went over all the time...I kept going even after they died….helped keep them close you know?”

“I’m so sorry,” Alex whispered. 

“It’s alright,” Zeb gently said. “That’s honestly why it was so hard to accept that she would just give the place up you know?”

“I was surprised as well, to be honest,” Alex slowly said. “But she told me...she was tired. She had spent most of her life working at the bakery, pouring her everything into it and never changing because she was scared of upsetting her friends. They wanted Chava’s treats not someone else’s so...she took up all the burden.”

“...shit,” Zeb whispered, realizing deep down, he had felt the same, put that pressure on her to be the sole bakery because they wanted her treats, not someone else’s.

“She didn’t blame anyone,” Alex softly said. “But she was ready to finally rest.”

“Well...heh I feel pretty shitty right now,” Zeb admitted, Alex’s eyes widening in horror at Zeb’s words. 

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said anything-”

“No, no it’s okay….I’m honestly glad you did,” Zeb assured. “I was part of the problem and I should have realized sooner...so thank you. I want to make sure I don’t do the same to anyone else….especially you.” Alex jerked up to look at Zeb in shock as their food was delivered to the table for them. 

“Zeb-”

“W-wow this food looks amazing.” Zeb quickly said, realizing he was being a little too romantic for a friendly date. He meant his words with every fiber of his being but he couldn’t actually say things like that, then Alex would know and that would ruin everything they had. 

Alex needed a friend right now, 

“I uh, yes it does,” Alex slowly said as he reached up to push his bangs off of his face, Zeb’s heart fluttering at the movement. How was Alex so handsome? An awkward silence hanging over them, the pair started to eat in silence, both occasionally glancing up when they thought the other was looking. Eventually, Alex broke the silence by asking,

“Why are you doing so much to help me?”

“Huh?” Zeb asked, confused. 

“Spending so much time at the bakery...going with me to the hospital...why are you doing this?” Alex repeated, looking up at Zeb. “You say it's because you feel bad but...you didn’t really do anything to me. Yea you got a little upset but….all of this is hardly necessary to make up for that.”

Zeb wanted to say it was because all he wanted to do was spend as much time with Alex as possible, that when they were together it didn’t feel like work, but he knew that would be too much for Alex right now. After mulling it over for a minute, Zeb slowly said,

“I know you’re overworked right now. And it feels like you’re all alone facing all of this and I just feel bad….I’ve been in a spot like that before where I had no one to help me and then my new family came, they did so much to help me get back on my feet...it felt...wrong not to pass on that kindness to someone else in need. Especially since I am in a position to help.”

“....you really love your family don’t you?” Alex softly asked.

“I do,” Zeb said, his expression softening as he thought about them.

“Lyste’s always been the closest thing to a family I’ve ever had,” Alex admitted. “For so long it was us against the world….now it feels like it’s just me….” Without thinking about it, Zeb reaches across to place a hand ontop of Alex’s whispering,

“It’s not just you anymore, I’m fightin’ right beside you.” Alex smiled tenderly at Zeb, resting his hand ontop of Zebs whispering,

“Thank you...you’re a good man Zeb.”

”So are you.” Zeb firmly said, Alex ducking his head for a moment to hide his blush, “I mean it,” Zeb firmly repeated, placing his other hand ontop of Alex’s, Alex peering up at him, shock momentarily flashing across his face. “You poor everything into your work and when things t tough you don’t take it out on your staff and you treat them right. You shoulder the burden and they see that and respect you for it...so let me take some of that burden okay?”

“Zeb-“ Alex whispered, voice cracking as he leaned in closer-

“And how is everything tonight gentlemen?” One of the servers asked, the pair immediately pulling their hands away from each other, faces bright red as they refused to look at one another.

“E-everythings great thank you.” Alex mumbled.

“R-real good,” Zeb said. Seemingly realizing he interrupted something, the server hastily said,

“Good- Great uh, holler if you need anything.” Before making a hasty retreat. For a minute neither spoke, both too embarrassed to be able to even look at one another. 

“I’m...I’m glad to have someone like you as a friend,” Alex mumbled, Zebs heart fluttering in his chest at the softly spoken words immediately looking up at Alex who continued to stare at his plate.

“I’m glad you would call me one,” Zeb softly replied, Alex looking up slowly to meet Zebs warm gaze. 

“Anyone who has the honor of being considered your friend is certainly blessed,” Alex softly whispered. 

“I certainly feel blessed,” Zeb admitted, Alex smiling over his food as they continued eating in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence. If he could, Zeb would have happily spent the entire evening with Alex. He knew however that Alex had an early morning. With great reluctance, Zeb suggested they start heading home, Alex looking as torn as Zeb felt as they started to head out, 

The moon brightly shone above them as they walked back to Alex’s car in comfortable silence, both content to simply enjoy each other's presence. 

“I’m sorry I kept ya so late,” Zeb mumbled as they climbed into the car. 

“You didn’t force me to stay out late,” Alex assured. “I really enjoyed this….and honestly I think I needed this. I haven’t really gone out and been anywhere besides my place and the bakery…”

“I’m glad you could get out if only for a bit,” Zeb said, the pair slipping back into a comfortable silence for the remainder of the drive back to the hospital, Alex’s grip on the steering wheel tightening as he pulled into the parking lot, seemingly waiting for something to jump out at him. As loath as he was for the night to end, he knew it was probably best not to linger here for long. 

“Thank you again,” Zeb said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “This was nice.” 

“Thank you for joining me,” Alex softly said. 

“Maybe we could do this again sometime?” Zeb found himself asking before he could stop the words. “O-only if you want to!” He quickly added. 

“I would love that,” Alex admitted. 

“Great!” Zeb said a little too eagerly, desperately trying to reign in his excitement as he climbed out of the car. “I uh look forward to it.”

“Me too,” Alex said. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Nowhere else I’d rather be,” Zeb honestly said, Alex’s gaze softening as Zeb looked back at him. 

“See you tomorrow then,” Alex whispered. 

“See ya,” Zeb said before closing the door, realizing neither would leave if he didn’t step away himself. Zeb stood and waved to Alex as he drove away, certain he was floating as he returned to his truck, living in cloud nine as he made the drive back home. 

Tonight had been magical, and Alex had even enjoyed the evening too! Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for them after all once Lyste recovered.


	10. Meet the Family

He had no reason to be afraid. Sure Lyste’s family hated his guts and wished he would spontaneously combust on the spot, but since Zeb came with him for that first visit no one had actively tried to stop him from seeing Lyste. But Zeb had been there every time since as well, this was his first time going completely alone and that terrified him. 

It would be fine, or so Alex kept telling himself. Lyste’s mother seemed to only visit earlier in the day so odds were he wouldn’t run into her and she was the one likely to give him the most trouble. He could do this, he would be fine, he wasn’t doing anything wrong visiting Lyste he-

“So it’s true.” Speak of the devil. “You really did slink your way back here to visit my son!”

“He’s my friend,” Alex softly said as he slowly turned to face Lyste’s mother, face face twisted in anger and rage towards him. 

“So?” She snapped. “You put him in that bed! What right do you-”

“I didn’t put him there,” Alex snapped, rage filling him at her words. Nothing she said was actually true. It was lies she spat trying to manipulate people so she could get her way, keeping Lyste to herself. “I didn’t force him into the car, I did not crash into him or do anything to put him in a state of mind where he could get into a crash, if anyone here is to blame for what happened to Lyste, it’s you.”

Lyste’s mother spluttered in rage before snarling, “How dare you accuse me of-”

“You come to his place of work uninvited and unwanted,” Alex began, Lyste’s mother cutting him off to snap,

_“Unwanted? I-”_

But Alex refused to let her finish, “You try to force him to quit his job which he is happy doing to do what you think is best for him rather than letting him decide what he wants with his life.”

“I am his mother-”

“So start acting like it,” Alex snapped. “Love him for who he is and what he wants to do, not what you think he should be.” For once, he actually managed to leave her completely speechless. She stared at Alex, her jaw slack in shock. “I’m done with this conversation and with you. If you’ll excuse me, I will be visiting my friend now.” Turning heel and walking away before she could respond, practically giddy as he walked in, heart pounding as he processed what he’d just said to Lyste’s mother, letting out a hysterical laugh as he collapsed into the seat beside Lyste’s bed. 

“You’ll never believe what I said to your mother,” Alex gasped. “I told her off. I-I can’t believe I did that, I’ve never told her off before! I know she’s your mother but- oh it felt so good and the look on her face…” Alex couldn’t help but laugh at the memory of it. “Oh...you should have seen it…” Alex glanced down at Lyste’s still face with a sad smile whispering, “I’ll tell you all about it when you wake up okay? So you have two stories to hear when you wake up? T-that’s, that’s gotta mean something right?” Alex swallowed thickly, trying to gather his thoughts. 

“I’m trying to be strong but...it’s getting so hard. Zeb won’t be able to help out forever a-and he’s wonderful and all but...he’s not you. There are so many of our stories he could never understand, so many little things that are so uniquely you that I love. You’ve always been my real family and I just- I miss you.” Alex knew he was crying at this point but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “...please come back.”

“Oh good you’re here!” Zeb breathlessly gasped, Alex nearly jumping out of his seat in shock, not expecting someone to come in. 

“Zeb!” Alex cried, placing his hand on his chest, willing his heartbeat to calm down again.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you-...are you okay?” Zeb worriedly asked.

“Yes why-...oh,” Alex mumbled, quickly trying to wipe his tears away. “It’s nothing.”

“If it's making you cry it’s not nothing,” Zeb said. “Was it his family?”

“No,” Alex assured with a weak laugh. “No I told that old crow off, oh her face was priceless.” 

“You did!” Zeb said, a grin spreading across his face. “And I missed it!”

“I’m not sure I would have had the guts to if you were here with me to be honest,” Alex admitted. 

“Nah,” Zeb dismissively said, sitting down in the other chair, “You’re a tough guy, whatever she did she deserved whatever telling off you gave her.”

“You weren’t there.”

“Well she’s a bitch so-”

“Zeb!”

“It’s true and you know it!”

“Well-“ Alex couldn’t really argue with him on that one. “She’s still here, she might hear you!”

“Let her, I don’t care.” Zeb assured. 

“Well-” Alex wanted to argue but realized it was pointless. In the end why should Zeb care what a practical stranger thought of him? Deciding to change the subject Alex said, “I’m honestly surprised you came by, I know tonight is family dinner night.”

“Yeah,” Zeb admitted, uncomfortably looking around the room. “Well, I stopped by the shop to uh, see if you had anything going tonight and Wedge mentioned you came here so I got worried and wanted to make sure you didn’t have any trouble.”

“I appreciate the concern,” Alex gently said, pausing when Zeb’s words registered in his mind. “Why did you care if I had any plans?”

“Well….” Zeb awkwardly shuffled in front of Alex, clearly embarrassed. “I, uh, I was thinkin’ you uh, you don’t get to do much ‘sides go to work, here or your home so I thought, well, maybe you might be interested in swingin’ by to get a good meal and some company….”

“Oh,” Alex said, staring at Zeb in shock. “I uh- I appreciate the offer…” Alex was torn. He didn’t get to see Lyste too often, but a nice meal did sound nice….

“I don’t want to take you away from here though if you need to stay!” Zeb hurriedly said. 

“I…” Alex trailed off, looking at Zeb’s hopeful expression and back to Lyste. “I would like a few more minutes with Lyste-”

“Yeah that’s fine!” Zeb said. “Dinners’ usually done in about an hour anyways!”

“Oh well that would be perfect then,” Alex said, feeling something warm bubbling in his chest seeing Zeb’s face completely light up. 

“Great! I’ll text you the address!” 

“Okay,” Alex said, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face. “Are you heading over now?”

“Yeah, I usually help cook dinner if I get out of the shop early,” Zeb said. 

“Ah,” Alex said. “Should I bring anything?”

“Nah,” Zeb said, dismissively waving his hand. “Just bring yourself and your appetite.” 

“That I can do,” Alex said. He hadn’t really eaten since breakfast. 

“See ya their!” Zeb cheerfully said, flashing a quick wave as he slipped out, Alex turning back to Lyste, a giddy grin on his face. He could almost imagine the knowing smirk on Lyste’s face. 

“I know, I know what you’re thinking -- ‘you clearly have feelings for him, why don’t you say anything?’ Right?” Lyste however as expected did not even stir. Still it was easy to imagine Lyste’s tone when saying the words. In a teasing but oh so loving way. “And I do like him….I like him a lot….but it’s not like that! I think….” Alex trailed off, mind wandering to them spending time in the kitchen at the bakery, Zebs joyful laughter filling the room up, leaving his heart warm and giddy.

“Zebs wonderful and...I can’t deny I really like him a lot and… yeah, I want to date him but that’s just not on the table! He doesn’t see me like that” Alex glanced back over at Lyste, almost expecting a response from him. Despite his wishes for his friend to awaken and help him, he continued to sleep on. 

“He’s kind and caring and sweet,” Alex continued, staring wistfully out the window. “He’s….wonderful….I know that I can’t know for certain he doesn’t feel the same if I don’t say anything but what if I do and he rejects me and doesn’t even want to be my friend anymore?”

Though Lyste continued to peacefully sleep in the hospital bed, oblivious to his plight, Alex already knew what Lyste would say in this situation.

_If he’s as kind and wonderful as you say he is, he wouldn’t hate you for your feelings...and who knows, maybe he feels the same and is just as scared as you are to say anything!_

“Zeb’s not scared of anything,” Alex sighed. “Certainly not of confessing feelings to someone. He just sees me as a friend.”

_He’s inviting you to meet his family! That has to mean something!_

“This is just a family get together,” Alex insisted. “Nothing all that special. He’s just being kind to an overworked friend.”

_Meeting the family is always important._

Alex couldn’t help but smile weakly imagining Lyste knowingly smirking at him, confident he’d managed to corner Alex. 

“Maybe I should tell him,” Alex slowly said. “I know I can’t keep bottling up my feelings forever….” Alex sighed heavily. “I’ll think about it alright? Will that make you happy?”

Lyste didn’t respond, but he imagined that Lyste would only be happy and let up once he did admit his feelings. As silence filled the room Alex found himself wondering if maybe this was a bigger deal then he was making it out to be. Should he be dressing up nice? Did he need to leave now and shower and clean up? Should he ignore what Zeb said and actually bring something? It almost felt wrong not to bring something as a thank you for having him over at least. 

“Shit,” Alex groaned, glancing down at his watch. He had about 45 minutes until he was supposed to be there, that was enough time to swing by the market to grab...something right? There was still the question of what to bring that he honestly could not answer but hopefully inspiration would strike while at the market. Alex stood up, rapidly walking out of the room, pausing to glance back at Lyste’s bed whispering, 

“Thanks,” before turning to leave. He could not mess this up.

\---

Without knowing what was being served, Alex was finding it painfully difficult to figure out what to bring. He considered bringing a dessert but realized that might be insulting and they might think he thought less of their ability to bake because he was a professional baker, then the idea of a veggie platter hit him as they were relatively versatile and could work with most meals. Zeb mentioned kids though, what if they hated it? 

It was then that Alex realized he had no idea how old the kids were even. Where are they toddlers? Older children? Teenagers even? Should he get something separate for them from the parents? Alex had so many questions and glancing at his watch he realized he really needed to be leaving the store right then to get there on time. It was as he was hurrying to the front of the store that he noticed bottles of sparkling apple cider. 

Not a great option but it would have to do. Grabbing a couple of bottles Alex made his way to the front of the store, luck gracing him with no lines so he could get back to his car and on the road with just enough time to get there without being late. All he could do now was pray the bottles would be good enough. 

As promised, Zeb had sent over the address earlier so Alex was able to simply put it into his phone's GPS and start driving, the GPS taking him towards the nearby hills, directing him into a neighborhood just before heading up higher into the hills luckily for him. The house he stopped in front of was an older home that was clearly well cared for. An old oak stood in the front yard with a tire swing hanging from it, casting a cooling shadow over the two story house. Double checking the address to make sure he had the right place, Alex made his way up the steps, the door flinging open just as he stepped onto the porch to be met with an overly excited teenage boy who excitedly started firing questions at him. 

“You’re Alex right? The guy from the bakery that Zeb hated? How did you two become friends? Or are you not friends? Zeb-”

“Ezra!” A male voice Alex did not recognize called out. 

“Sorry, dad,” The boy, Ezra apparently, called back into the house. “I was just answering the door like you asked!”

“You didn’t even let him knock,” Ezra’s father scolded. 

“I was excited to meet him!” Ezra exclaimed. “Come on, you’ve been dying to meet him as well-” The door was yanked open the rest of the way to reveal who Alex guessed was Ezra’s father who was glaring down at him. 

“How about we properly greet our guest before demanding to know personal information?” 

“Oh right,” Ezra said. “Hi I’m Ezra!”

“I gathered,” Alex said with a small smirk. 

“See, he knows us already!” Ezra said, turning to look up at his father with a wide grin. 

“That’s probably because he heard me scolding you, using your name.”

“Or Zeb talked about us to him! Which means he likes him-”

“Go help your mom,” The man said, cutting him off, Alex ducking his head to hide his blush. Did Zeb really like him like that?

“Sorry about him,” Ezra’s father sheepishly said. “He’s our social butterfly.”

“He’s certainly….friendly towards strangers,” Alex awkwardly said. “He was correct, uh, I’m Alex, Zeb’s…” Alex trailed off, unsure how to refer to himself. Was it too much to assume friend? Coworker didn’t seem right and employee felt wrong. 

“Nice to meet you,” The man said, rescuing Alex from having to figure that out. “My name’s Kanan.”

“Pleasure,” Alex said, moving one bottle to his other hand so he had a free hand to hold out to Kanan who shook it. 

“You didn’t have to bring anything,” Kanan assured as he opened the door the rest of the way, A thundering from upstairs coming towards them. “Probably Sabine and Zeb.” Kanan said as he reached over to take the bottles from Alex, Zeb appeared at the top of the stairs along with a teenage girl, Sabine, if Alex had to guess. 

“Hey, it is the guy from the bakery-”

“Yes, Bean we’ve established that,” Zeb hissed at her, Sabine laughing as he ran down the stairs ahead of Zeb who awkwardly following after her as he bounced over to him saying,

“Hey I’m Sabine! Are you the reason Zeb’s been late to family dinners?”

“Sabine!” Kanan hissed as both Alex and Zeb ducked their heads. “Kitchen. Now.”

“I’m just saying hi-” Sabine exclaimed. 

“Now.” Kanan repeated, giving Sabine one of the bottles and guiding her towards the kitchen, leaving Alex and Zeb in the entry room alone, Alex suddenly painfully aware of the fact that he had not changed out of his work clothes before coming over. He should have taken the time to change-

“Sorry about them,” Zeb said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “They uh, they get excited meeting new people. 

“I can tell,” Alex said with a soft laugh. “Don’t worry about it.” 

“I’m glad you could make it,” Zeb softly said. 

“I’m glad you invited me,” Alex said, just as a female voice calling out: 

“Dinner!”

“Oh, this way,” Zeb said, leading him deeper into the house. “You had good timing there.” 

“I’m glad,” Alex said. “I was worried I would be late.”

“Even if you were no one would mind,” Zeb assured as they entered the dining room. “I’m late all the time.” 

“More often than he's on time,” Sabine said from the table. 

“Hey!” Zeb cried. 

“What? It’s the truth and you know it!”

“Alright kids settle down,” A woman that Alex assumed to be Hera scolded as she walked into the dining room with a tray. 

“Ezra, Sabine can you grab the rest of the food please?”

“Fine,” Sabine and Ezra grumbled, running off to do as they were asked. 

“Hello, I’m Hera, you must be Alex,” Hera greeted as she set down the tray she was holding, 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Alex said. “Thank you for allowing me to join you, this meal smells wonderful.”

“Oh, well thank you for joining us,” Hera said. “I must admit, it is nice to finally meet the mystery man Zeb has been spending so much time with.” 

“He’s been a big help around the bakery,” Alex mumbled, ducking his head to hide his now pink cheeks. Hera wasn’t implying she thought they were dating...right? “What is for dinner by the way?”

“We decided to go with chicken parmesan. We also have salad and bread to go with.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Alex said.

“Oh, here,” Zeb said, pulling out a chair for Alex, who felt his cheeks burning even hotter at the gesture. Did Zeb realize how...romantic all of this was? Did he know what he was doing to Alex’s heart? Willing himself to keep himself calm, Alex sat down in the chair, Zeb gently scooting it in before sitting down next to Alex who had to bow his head to hide his blush, catching a glimpse of a smirking Hera as he did so. If he kept this up everyone would think they were dating-

“Got the salad mom!” Sabine declared. “Bet ya!”

“That’s cuz I had to put on oven mitts to carry the tray over!” Ezra snapped. 

“I still won!” 

“Cuz you cheated!”

“How is it cheating?”

“Because-”

“Kids,” Kanan scolded, the pair immediately clamping their mouths shut. “We have a guest over remember?”

“Sorry,” Sabine and Ezra said at the same time, Ezra darting over to the seat directly across from where Alex was sitting. 

“Hey!” Sabien said. “I was goi-”

“I got here first!” 

“Just sit down please,” Kanan groaned. 

“...fine.” Sabine grumbled sitting down next to Ezra, Hera taking the seat next to Alex and Kanan sitting at the head of the table. Hera immediately handing the spatula over to Alex who quickly said, 

“Oh you don-”

“You’re the guest,” Hera firmly said. “Guests get to serve themselves first.”

“Oh well- thank you,” Alex awkwardly said, taking the spatula and grabbing some of everything for himself, awkwardly handing it back to Hera who immediately started serving herself asking, 

“So, how did this whole...arrangement start?”

“Arrange- oh! Well…” Alex awkwardly trailed off, not certain he wanted to admit to having a panic attack in the middle of his shop. 

“Well it started off with me getting a good verbal lashin’ from Chava,” Zeb said without missing a beat. “She told me about all the problems the bakery was havin’ cuz of my uh….outburst a few weeks earlier and so I went back to apologize and I found him dead on his feet.”

“Working in a bakery has to have long hours,” Kanan said. 

“It does,” Alex agreed 

“Didn’t help that his partner was uh….not working,” Zeb said, glancing over at Alex, clearly asking if it was okay to say what happened. 

“He is in the hospital currently...he got into a car crash and so….I’ve been picking up the slack for everything he did.”

“I’m so sorry,” Hera softly said with a sympathetic look in her eyes. “I shouldn’t have asked-”

“No, no it’s alright I understand.” Alex assured. “Zeb decided to help out, though i couldn’t say why-”

“I couldn’t just leave ya there!” Zeb said. “Felt wrong to not especially since he got a lot of backlash from Chava’s old customers-”

“That’s hardly your fault,” Alex softly said. 

“Well my outburst certainly didn’t help anyone.”

“Though I am sorry it all happened under such unfortunate circumstances, we are glad to have officially met you now.”

“I as well,” Alex said, frowning and glancing at his leg when he felt something brush up against it, finding himself face to face with a tabby cat who was happily rubbing themselves against his leg, softly purring. 

“Oie! Scram furball!” Zeb snapped, glaring at the tabby. 

“Zeb!” Hera snapped. “Chopper is a member of the family!”

“He’s a demon more like,” Zeb snapped, Chopper pausing his purring to hiss up at Zeb before glancing up at Alex who reached down to pet him, ignoring Zeb’s horrified,

“Don’t!” Smirking as Choppers purring intensified at the stroking, Chopper eagerly rubbing his face into Alex’s hand. 

“Maybe if you were nice to him, he’d be nice to you,” Alex said with a raised eyebrow. 

“He didn’t even give me a chance to-”

“See Zeb,” Hera said with a victorious grin, “maybe you’re just not a cat person.”

“Maybe not,” Zeb huffed, crossing his arms across his chest with a pout. 

“Well you don’t have to like cats,” Alex softly said. “Just be nice to them.”

“I don’t hurt him or anythin’ like that!” Zeb exclaimed. 

“I never said-”

“He does!” 

“....he’s a cat,” Alex slowly said, glancing at Zeb with a raised eyebrow. 

“He’s always cryin’ when we’re alone in the same room together pretendin’ he’s hurt or somethin’!” Zeb said with an annoyed huff.

“You could have accidentally stepped on his tail-”

“He wouldn’t let me even if I wanted to,” Zeb grumbled. 

“Accidents happen-”

“Oh don’t take his side!”

“I wasn’t-”

“He’s only purrin’ and stuff to try and get food outta ya.” Zeb continued with a pout that was far too adorable for Alex’s own good. 

“I could never, this food is too good to share!”

“Well luckily there's plenty,” Hera said as she cut off a small piece lowering to towards the floor, Chopper immediately darting off to snatch it from her, freeing Alex once more to enjoy his own dinner. 

“So what’s it like working in a bakery?” Ezra asked. “Do you get to eat lots of desserts?”

“On a good day, I don’t get to eat any,” Alex honestly said.

“....really?” Ezra asked with a pout. 

“The staff only eats what is not able to be sold,” Alex explained. “Or something I messed up on baking.” 

“Oh,” Ezra said. “I guess that’s not good…”

“But sometimes when I am experimenting with new baked goods I will only give it out as samples to guests and the staff so I can get as much feedback as possible,” Alex said. 

“You change what you sell?” Ezra curiously asked. 

“Well we have seasonal items-”

“I thought only coffee shops did that,” Ezra asked. 

“Chava didn’t before,” Alex corrected. “But Lyste and I wanted to try out having a small section of seasonal rotating offerings.”

“Ohh,” Ezra thoughtfully said. “Why?”

“Well pumpkin for example sells very well in October through December but is not very popular the rest of the year,” Alex explained. “Seasonal menus allow you to create excitement for a specific item as well during a time it is in higher demand anyways which can help the product sell more when it is available while also not clogging down shelf space during times its not as in a high demand.” 

“Oh,” Ezra said, glancing at his food, giving Sabine a free moment to eagerly chime in,

“Do you have decorators to make amazing designs?”

“Uh currently we only have one which severely limits how many cake orders we can take right now,” Alex admitted. 

“Do you do any decorating?”

“I frost cupcakes but that is mostly it.”

“Oh,” Sabine sadly mumbled. 

“It would unfortunately take too much time to do both jobs,” Alex explained. “Are you interested in decorating?”

“I like all forms of art,” Sabine said. “And cake decorating is really just edible art right?”

“I suppose in a sense it is,” Alex agreed. “I’m surprised you didn’t talk to Chava about this.”

“She didn’t really like talking about work at dinner,” Sabine said with a shrug. 

“Well for one’s sanity it has some merit,” Alex agreed, quickly adding, “But I don’t mind answering questions for you both. But I feel like I’ve done most of the talking.”

“We just have so many questions about you!” Ezra chimed in. “Zeb hardly ever talks about you and he gets weird when we ask-”

“Well getting grilled about your friend feels weird,” Zeb hurriedly said. 

“So why don’t you talk about him at all?” Sabine countered. 

“Can I ask about you guys?” Alex interrupted, wanting to prevent things from getting even more awkward. “Zeb didn’t really have time to tell me all that much about all of you since we were both so busy. Are you in school?”

“Both in middle school,” Sabine said. 

“We’ll be going into highschool next year together!” Ezra added. 

“That must be exciting,” Alex said.

“I hear our high school has an awesome arts program!” Sabine said. 

“So you’re a fan of art?” Alex asked. 

“Uh-huh,” Sabine said. “Someday I hope to become a famous artist!”

“With a passion like yours I’m sure you will be,” Alex said. “What about you Ezra?”

“I’m honestly not sure,” Ezra admitted. “I like animals but I’m not sure I want to be a zookeeper….”

“Well you have plenty of time to figure that out,” Alex assured. “It often takes time to figure out what one wants to do with their life.”

“When did you decide you wanted to be a baker?” Sabine asked. 

“Well I was in middle school,” Alex admitted. “And I decided to take a home ec class and the baking sections were by far my favorite. I then decided to start taking the nearby college’s class they offered after school at my highschool and everything just fell into place. But not everyone is like that, some people don’t figure things out until college.”

“Really?” Ezra hopefully asked. ‘

“Yea,” Alex assured. “So don’t panic just yet, okay?”

“Exactly what I’ve been telling you,” Kanan said with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Ezra dismissively said. 

“Sometimes a non-family member saying it is more impactful,” Alex gently said. 

“Hmm,” Kanan unconvincingly said but didn’t say anything further.

“Oh I almost forgot, how is your commission coming along?” Alex asked, glancing over at Zeb.

“Is he talking about that big piece you’ve been worried about for weeks?” Sabine asked.

“Yea,” Zeb said. “I’m working on finalizin’ the sketch but It’s finally startin’ to come together.” Zeb said. “Thank you for that.”

“For what?” Alex asked in confusion.

“Givin’ me the confidence to actually work on the piece I wanted to make all along.” Zeb tenderly said, smiling down at Alex who warmly smiled up at him as he whispered,

“Any time.” And he meant it. Zeb had done so much for him, he would do anything to help him in return. Zebs beaming smile warmed Alex to his core, his heart fluttering as they continued to gaze into each other’s eyes-

“Awww.” Sabine softly said, shattering the moment, the pair tearing their gazes away from each other. He’d almost forgotten other people were in the room.

“Glad to have been a help,” Alex mumbled, staring down at his plate, willing his cheeks to cool and the fluttering in his stomach to calm down. That was nothing, they were just being friends-

“Do you get big commissions at the bakery like Zeb?” Hera asked, helping to ease the awkwardness that hung in the air.

“Sometimes,” Alex said, grateful for the distraction as he launched into an explanation about specialty desserts. The awkwardness from early quickly fading away as the kids started eagerly asking questions.

The rest of the night continued in a blur, everyone eagerly talking and asking questions, occasionally letting Alex get in a few questions himself about the family. It was nice, comforting, it let him forget all of his troubles and pretend for a moment that everything really was okay. 

Despite enjoying the evening, he knew that with the early morning he had, he needed to start saying goodbye. 

“Tonight has been wonderful,” Alex softly said as he started to stand up. “I wish I could stay all night but unfortunately tomorrow will be an early morning for me.”

“We’re sorry to see you head out,” Hera said as she stood up, Ezra and Sabine immediately asking, 

“Do you have to go?”

“Unfortunately yes,” Alex said, overwhelmed by Zeb’s family's kindness and openness. Did they really….like him? “I need to open the shop up tomorrow.”

“Oh…” Ezra mumbled dejectedly. “Okay….do you think you can come back next week?”

“O-oh,” Alex said, blinking in surprise. “Well I wouldn’t want to impose-”

“Nonsense,” Hera assured. “We loved having you!”

“Any friend of Zeb’s is a friend of ours,” Kanan added with a warm smile. 

“I really can’t promise with everything going on at the bakery,” Alex slowly said. “But I would love to visit again.” 

“We’d love to have you visit again whenever you can,” Hera said. 

“I would be honored,” Alex softly said. 

“Come on, let me walk you out,” Zeb said, wrapping an arm around Alex’s shoulders, his heart fluttering at the touch, making his knee’s weak. Willing himself to keep it together Alex let Zeb lead him out of the house and towards his car, Alex forcing himself to focus on what Zeb was saying as they walked, “Sorry if I stepped in too soon, I just know you work early and they’d keep you there talkin’ all night if someone didn’t step in.”

“I wouldn’t have minded,” Alex found himself saying. “But nonetheless I do appreciate it, I really should get some rest.”

“So you had fun tonight?” Zeb hopefully asked, dropping his arm once they reached the car, Alex instantly missing it’s warmth. 

“I did,” Alex assured, locking eyes with Zeb who beamed down at him. 

“I’m really glad to hear that.”

“Thank you for inviting me,” Alex said. “I didn’t realize how much I needed this...but I did.”

“I’m glad it helped,” Zeb softly said. “Sometimes...the best thing for the soul is a good meal with good people.”

“It’s been...lonely these past few weeks,” Alex admitted. “And I know you’re there with me as much as you can but...it’s different. I’m so used to having Lyste at the bakery with me most of the day him not being there still feels...odd. There are long stretches I'm just all by myself at the bakery…”

“We all need to be around friends and family,” Zeb said, placing a hand on Alex’s shoulder and squeezing it. “Even if it’s not family dinner I still come here a lot...you’re more than welcome to as well.”

“I couldn’t-”

“They all love you,” Zeb assured. “Kid’ll be pesterin’ me all week about if you’ll be coming by again.”

“I didn’t think they enjoyed my company that much….” Alex mumbled.

“Trust me, they did,” Zeb assured, his words filling Alex’s with warmth, butterflies filling his stomach. _I love him_. Alex realized in that moment, Zeb’s warm green eyes that shone in the moonlight peering deep into his very soul. The realization did not surprise him as much as he thought it would. He supposed though he had known for some time now, but only could admit it to himself now. It would be so easy to lean up and kiss him right then and their-

No. He would not spring this on Zeb with his family watching. What if he didn’t feel the same? He would find the perfect moment to tell Zeb when they were alone and Zeb didn’t feel pressured to say yes in return. Zeb deserved that. 

“Thank you again for this….will I see you again tomorrow?”

“If you’d like,” Zeb softly replied. 

“I always enjoy seeing you,” Alex tenderly said, voice revealing more emotion then he intended to, ducking his head to try and hide his embarrassment. 

“‘M glad cuz I like seeing you too,” Zeb softly said, Alex slowly looking back up at him to meet his gentle gaze. 

“I’m glad you came back,” Alex found himself whispering, the words dancing on the tip of his tongue, desperate to be said-

“Me too,” Zeb said, “I’m really glad we could be friends.”

“Me too,” Alex softly said, firmly reminding himself this wasn’t the right time. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow,” Zeb echoed with a tender smile, watching Alex as he climbed into his car, hyper aware of the fact that Zeb continued to watch him even as he started to drive away, Alex himself looking back at Zeb in the rearview mirror as he drove off into the night, glancing back at the spot he last saw Zeb in until he had to turn the corner and he was completely gone from view. 

\----

As Alex’s car pulled away from the house, Zeb couldn't help but let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Bringing Alex over had been terrifying but something he had been desperate to do. He wanted Alex and his family to get along, he wanted them all to be friends so Zeb could bring him over more, so they could spend more time together somewhere Alex didn’t have to be a manager but just a person. He wanted to keep seeing Alex smile every single day. He wanted to be the one to make him smile, to hear that laugh. 

He wanted to kiss him until he forgot how to breathe and his knee’s stopped working. Wanted to hold him through the hard days and celebrate each and every victory. 

But they could never be more than friends.

With a heavy sigh Zeb trudged back to the house, feeling lonely despite being in a house nearly bursting at the seams. Zeb heard rather then saw Sabine and Ezra quickly running away from the window and towards him asking,

“Why didn’t you kiss him!”

“He was so going to kiss you right? What happened?”

“W-we weren't- He- I wasn’t- We were never gonna kiss!” Zeb stammered, face burning. Was it that obvious?

“Oh come on!” Sabine said. “It’s obvious you two are in l-o-ove.”

“Oh shove off,” Zeb grumbled, pushing past the pair to head into the kitchen, Kanan and Hera already working on cleaning up.

“I’m glad you brought Alex over,” Hera said as soon as Zeb was close enough to hear her over the running water. 

“I’ll be honest I was worried about tonight.” Zeb absentmindedly said as he grabbed a plate to dry off. 

“Why’s that?” Hera asked with a small smirk on her lips. Face burning Zeb hurriedly said,

“Well I didn’t know how the kids would react to him since, you know, he’s a total stranger and all.”

“Who, Ezra the walking extrovert who makes friends with everyone?” Kanan asked.

“Or Sabine miss, ‘if Uncle Zeb likes them they’re cool with me?’” Hera added. Zeb swallowing thickly.

“And really who cares if the kids like him or not, he’s just a friend right?” Kanan continued. “You can be friends with whoever you’d like. You don’t need our approval.”

“Unless he’s more than a friend-” Hera slowly asked. Zeb immediately snapped:

“We’re not an item and we’re never going to be one!” He slammed the plate down harder then necessary, breathing heavily to try and control his frustration. Why did everyone think they were a thing? They weren't...couldn’t. 

They had a good thing, he couldn’t ruin it again. 

“Why not?” Hera asked after a minute of tense silence. “Don’t you like him?”

Realizing there was no point in lying Zeb said, “Of course I like him! I just- I can’t!”

“I don’t understand-”

“We’re friends! That’s all!” Zeb firmly said. “Side’s even if he wanted more….he’s just got way too much goin’ on right now to be even thinkin’ ‘bout datin’...he’s got his best friend in the hospital, his bakery to try and keep off the ground...I’m not gonna throw another curveball at him. that’s the last thing he needs.”

“Zeb-”

“Please guys,” Zeb sighed, screwing his eyes shut. “I know how I feel and I know...I know even if he feels the same I can’t do that to him, not right now, not when his life is so out of control. He needs stability right now, not a new relationship.”

“You don’t-”

“He’s mentally not in a good place right now,” Zeb firmly said. “What if he says he likes me just cuz he’s afraid if he says no I’ll get upset and leave? What if- w-what if he thinks I only helped him out was because I was after sex?”

“That’s not why you helped-”

“No but what if he thinks that? What if he hates me?” Zeb frantically asked. 

“Okay, okay,” Kanan gently said, holding up his hands. “I think you’re making a mistake but I won’t argue with you on this okay?” 

“Thank you,” Zeb softly said, shutting his eyes as he rested his hands on the counter again, leaning heavily against it. 

“Regardless,” Kanan softly said, resting a hand on Zeb’s shoulder. “We’d still love having him over.”

“...even if we aren’t dating?”

“Friends still matter,” Hera said. “It’s obvious he needs friends right now, desperately.” Zeb flashed a grateful smile at Hera, feeling his tense muscles slowly relaxing,’

“Thanks guys.”

“Course,” Hera softly assured. “Now help me finish cleaning up.”

“Yeah yeah,” Zeb said with a laugh and an affectionate eyeroll, not really all that mad at her. He was grateful for his family's support, he just knew they could help Alex more then even Alex knew they could.


	11. A Confession

For the first time since receiving the commission, Zeb found himself completely lost in his work, chiseling away at the massive piece with precision and confidence, his conversation with Alex playing over and over in his mind, his words giving him the confidence he needed to work on it and bring his vision to life. 

Though he was still concerned about the buyer liking it, he knew he would be proud to have created this. He was determined to see his vision through, regardless of what anyone else thought about it. Alex believed in him, in his vision and that was all he needed.

A piece this size, though, was slow to make, one mistake could permanently ruin the entire thing and Zeb knew he did not have time to start over if something went wrong. He had to carefully consider each movement of his knife, ensuring every cut was precisely what he wanted it to be. It was easy after all to cut a little further down if it was too shallow. There was nothing he could do if he cut too much off. 

Wiping sweat off of his forehead, Zeb took a step back to admire his work so far. He was a little further behind then he wanted to be, but he was still confident he could have it all finished before the deadline. He preferred to be done a few days early to give him a buffer in case he wanted to add or adjust anything. He was certainly on a tighter time frame, but this piece would be spectacular, he just knew it. 

“-friend of his-” a voice Zeb thought he recognized was saying from the front. 

“Zeb is very busy right now!” Ketsu snapped, “If you’re not going to buy anything please leave.” 

“Could you please give him a message saying I stopped by?” the voice continued. Alex! 

“Yea, sure whatever,” Ketsu was saying, Zeb throwing down his tools and running to the front crying out,

“Wait!”

“Uh, boss?” Ketsu said in confusion as Alex exclaimed,

“Zeb!” 

“He’s welcome to come back whenever he stops by if I’m working in back,” Zeb firmly told Ketsu who threw her hands up saying, 

“Okay boss, sorry-”

“Here, come on back,” Zeb said, lifting up the counter piece to let Alex come through.

“Thank you,” Alex said, flashing a grateful smile, turning to Ketsu to say, “Sorry about the mix up-”

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Ketsu dismissively said, earning a glare from Zeb which she easily ignored. 

“Aw, don’t mind her she’s like that to everyone,” Zeb said, leading Alex into the back.

“I deal with far worse most days,” Alex said with a shrug. “I apologize from dropping in unannounced-”

“No, no don’t apologize! It’s fine!” Zeb assured. “I’m just surprised is all.”

“Well...I decided to take your advice,” Alex said. “I’m temporarily shortening hours so that we’re closed on Sundays and Mondays and will open a little later on Tuesday so I can get in and bake everything.”

“That’s great!” Zeb exclaimed.

“You think so?” Alex sheepishly asked. 

“I do! What finally made you decide to do that?” Zeb asked. 

“Well….I spoke with my employees and they agreed with what you said and told me they were willing to work with the new hours and can still work the same number of hours as before. I will still need to sometimes cover the shop on my own but it won’t be for nearly as many days and it will let me have some days to rest.”

“Good, you need it.” Zeb said. “It’s really nice to see you stop by, oh by the way what brings you out here?” 

“Well…” Alex ducked his head, Zeb catching a glimpse of his now pink cheeks. “I wanted to see your workplace since you spend so much time at mine.”

“While I am flattered, you should be at home, enjoying a well deserved break.”

“Oh, trust me, I did,” Alex assured. “I slept for nearly twelve hours. I needed to get myself out of bed and I figured I don’t have many chances to visit so I wanted to take this one.”

“Well I’m honored,” Zeb said with a grin, Alex glancing up at Zeb in surprise, cheeks darkening, Zeb glancing away to hide his own blush. Why was Alex looking at him like that? “Did you want to maybe see my commission piece?” 

“I would love to!” Alex exclaimed, ducking his head to repeat more calmly, “I would be honored if you would be willing to show me.”

“Over here,” Zeb said, leading Alex through his shop to the back where his commission proudly stood. Zeb had managed to carve out most of the outline for the wolf and was just starting to work on the finer details of the piece. 

“Hmm,” Alex curiously said, eyes wandering over every inch of what he had made so far, Zeb nervously watching him, terrified he would laugh or think it looked terrible. 

“How long has all of this taken you?” Alex asked after a minute of silence, eyes still glued to the piece. 

“Honestly? I really couldn’t give you an accurate number,” Zeb admitted. “I’ve bounced between this and stuff for the shop. Weeks, I can say for sure, though.”

“I can imagine so,” Alex admitted. 

“And I’ve got a long way to go still,” Zeb continued. 

“Do you think you’ll finish on time?” Alex worriedly asked. “Because if that is a concern please don’t-”

“Hey, hey,” Zeb firmly said. “Don’t worry about me, I’m going to be just fine, especially with you closed on Sundays and Mondays.” Alex slowly looked up at him between his bangs whispering, 

“Are you sure?” 

“Positive,” Zeb assured, not even thinking about what he was doing as he reached out to push the bangs off of Alex’s face, freezing as he realized what he had been doing, Alex staring at Zeb with wide eyes, cheeks pink--Zeb certain his were in a similar state. What was he thinking? Why did he do that? Alex was probably furious with him- 

“Zeb,” Alex breathlessly whispered, looking up at him with soft eyes, tentatively reaching out to take Zeb’s hand. 

“Y-Yeah?” Zeb whispered. Were their faces getting closer? Was he just imagining it? 

“I-I-....please don’t laugh-”

“I could never laugh at you,” Zeb breathed, realizing his hand was still brushing against Alex’s cheek. Should he pull away or would it be weird now-?

“I’ve realized some things over these past few weeks working with you,” Alex whispered. “You've been there for me….a constant rock for me to lean on even when I didn’t ask it of you...we weren't even friends-”

“W-we are now though right?” Zeb anxiously asked. Did Alex not see them even as friends? Was he imagining everything between them? Was it wrong for him to think Alex wanted more than friendship-?

“Now, yes,” Alex said with a warm smile, the tight feeling in his chest instantly relaxing. “But we certainly were not at the start.”

“I’d beat my past self over that if I could….” Zeb sheepishly mumbled, Alex chuckling at his words. 

“I know you would,” Alex whispered. “And that is truly one of your many great strengths. Your kindness and compassion, your willingness to help complete strangers out-”

“It’s only fair I did…” Zeb said, unable to look Alex in the eye with a half hearted shrug. “I hurt you.”

“I can’t think of anyone else who would have gone to the lengths you did, though,” Alex said, placing a hand on Zeb’s cheek, gently turning him to face Alex again. “You’re a good person, Zeb, one I am honored to call my friend.”

“R-right...friend,” Zeb said, while grateful Alex did see him as his friend, wishing Alex did want them to be more than that. Deep down, though, he knew it wouldn’t happen, not after how rocky of a start they had. Zeb swallowed thickly and said, “That’s what friends are for right? I mean at least until Lyste comes back, uh, then we can go back to our normal routine.” Zeb could feel Alex’s hand tense against his cheek before it quickly pulled away, Alex unable to look at him as he mumbled, 

“R-right of course….” Alex swallowed thickly as he continued, “You have a lot of work to do at the shop I-I get that-”

“Wait-” Zeb said, confused. What did he say? Why was Alex upset?

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have intruded, I-I’ll leave you to your work,” Alex said, turning to scurry out of the workshop. 

“Wait, Alex I-I don’t want you to go-!”

“Goodbye, Zeb,” Alex said without even turning back to him, leaving Zeb standing in the middle of his workshop stunned and confused. What had just happened?

\----

 _Don’t cry, don’t cry,_ Alex firmly told himself as he scurried through the parking lot back to his car. It was stupid of him to think Zeb wanted more of their relationship. They were friendly acquaintances, nothing more. Of course Zeb would want to focus back on his shop once Lyste returned. It was selfish of him to think Zeb would want to still visit or want him visiting. They both had businesses to run. They didn’t have time to waste on silly friendships or more….

“You were wrong, Lyste,” Alex mumbled as he got into his car. “Romance was never an option for me.”

The words felt like ash on his tongue, his chest tight as the realization sunk in. Zeb was just a naturally friendly and outgoing person, that didn’t mean he had feelings for Alex or was even gay. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He should have just kept his mouth shut and let himself live in the fantasy where maybe Zeb might reciprocate his feelings. 

Alex forcibly swallowed down a weak sob, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay. Did Zeb even want to be his friend? Had it all just been in his head? Why did he keep falling for Zeb? When would his heart learn that he and Zeb would never be something. Friendly acquaintances was all they would ever be. He needed to get any other ideas of what they could ever be out of his head and buckle down and focus on his work. 

Would Zeb even bother to come back and continue helping out? The question was like a punch to the gut. He had gotten so used to Zeb’s near constant presence at the bakery, it was almost impossible to imagine anything but him always being there. The realization that he would have to get used to him not being around was another punch in the gut, taking all the breath from him lungs. 

He didn’t want to be alone again. 

Should he turn around? Apologize to Zeb and beg him to forget what happened and let things go back to the way they were?

No, he would not humiliate himself further. He’d made his bed, he would just have to lie in it now. It was foolish to think there was a spark between them. His exhausted and burnt out mind just imagined it all.

He just wished he didn’t have to lose Zeb’s friendship because of his blunder. 

No going back now. All he could do was keep pushing forward and pray Lyste would be back soon. 

“I need you, Lyste,” Alex brokenly whispered. At least with Lyste, Alex knew he would never judge Alex for any screw up he made. They were friends through thick and thin. Lyste was really the only person who could put up with him. Maybe that’s why Zeb wanted to distance himself from Alex. 

He always had known he was generally not all that likeable. He had just naively and selfishly hoped Zeb was someone who could look past his glaring flaws.That however was too much to hope for it seemed. 

He almost wished he hadn’t closed the bakery today, he desperately needed the distraction from his swirling thoughts. 

_If the bakery had been open you wouldn’t have made such a fool of yourself,_ a dark thought scolded, and Alex found he really couldn’t argue with the voice. It was right, after all. He hopefully had something alcoholic still at home to drown his sorrows in before going back to work tomorrow. He might just still open at the normal time tomorrow, as he doubted he’d be able to sleep all that much tonight. Alex swallowed his tears once more and focused on the road. 

He had no right to cry. This was his own damn fault after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh don't kill me please?


	12. Another Confession

It had been a painfully long and sleepless night for Alex, spending most of it restlessly tossing and turning, willing himself to get some much needed sleep but finding he couldn’t seem to do so. Far earlier then he really needed to be up, Alex gave up on any pretense of actually sleeping and dragged himself out of bed, getting started on brewing a large cup of coffee. 

Normally he would be looking forward to seeing Zeb much later on in the afternoon, the knowledge that likely that would not be happening was another deep stab in the chest. How was he going to get through the day now? Groaning, Alex got himself dressed, not even bothering to make himself breakfast. He would just eat at the bakery.

Maybe.

It was completely on autopilot that Alex drove down to the bakery and opened the shop up. Time passed by in a blur, Alex not really focusing on anything, mind driving every action he took devoid of emotion. He was just so damn tired of being alone. Tired of not having anyone besides Lyste. 

He had foolishly believed Zeb was someone special- that he saw Alex as someone special. He really was just a fool-

“Hey Alex!” Serena cheerfully greeted as she ducked behind the counter to join him, quickly putting on her apron. “Sorry I’m late! I forgot you moved my start time to earlier in the day and-”

“It’s quite alright,” Alex quickly assured. He’d honestly not even paid attention to the time. He hadn’t remembered he’d told Serena to come in early himself. With Zeb helping out he had thought her coming in earlier would help-

“I’ll be in back if you need anything,” Alex said, shoving the thoughts out of his mind. He couldn’t help but wish he’d kept Serena at her usual schedule of coming in at the end of the day. He’d be here all night anyways and he hated closing alone….

He needed to suck it up and get used to it, because that’s what it was going to be for him again. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Alex got to work prepping a quiche for pickup early tomorrow morning. This he was good at, he was always able to lose himself in his work when he was baking. 

The hours slipped by with little notice when he got into the zone on his work. This is what he should always be doing, he shouldn’t have to be constantly watching the front as well as trying to bake! It was certainly hurting quality in the long run. Maybe when Lyste got back they could discuss keeping the shorter hours more permanently-

If he gets back- a voice whispered. 

“Shut up-” Alex grumbled. 

“What was that?” Serena cheerfully asked.

“Nothing, s-sorry,” Alex quickly said, glancing up from what he was doing. 

“O-okay,” Serena slowly said. “You okay boss? I-we hoped the shorter hours would help you be a little less stressed and...you seem more stressed than ever-”

“I-I’m fine,” Alex snapped, freezing when he saw the hurt look on Serena’s face. 

“S-sorry I’m- I’m sorry,” Alex sighed. “I shouldn’t snap at you, I just…” Alex trailed off. He should not be dumping this on his employee. “The shorter hours help but...there still is just so much to worry about.”

“No one here blames you for being stressed,” Serena soothingly said. “We all can see how much you’re having to take on and we’re all glad to help however we can…. Is there anything I can do for you? I usually have downtime in the afternoon!”

“....how do you feel about frosting cupcakes?”

“I would love to learn!” Serena exclaimed with a wide grin, earning a weak chuckle from Alex.

“It looks like we could use more chocolate cupcakes-”

“Let me help!” Serena begged. 

“Alright,” Alex said with a grin. 

\----

Serena was an easy student to teach, Alex discovered. She genuinely was interested in learning and wanted to help in any way she could, she was also a surprisingly fast learner, Alex able to leave her to her own devices relatively quickly, Serena easily getting to work on prepping more cupcakes for the near closing rush. It was honestly a relief to have that worry off of his plate. One less responsibility for him meant he could get more of the work only he could do during the day. Maybe he could show her how to cut bars for him so he didn’t have to waste all that time himself-

“Hey Alex,” Serena nervously said. “If you need me to work overtime I can but…”

“Oh,” Alex said, glancing at the clock. Was it 5:30 already? “Um, no, no that’s not necessary. Have a good evening.”

“You sure?” Serena slowly said. “I can stay ‘til closing, I don’t mind! You’ve been here all day!”

“I...I appreciate the thought but….you shouldn’t have to do that.” Alex reluctantly said. 

“Okay,” Serena said, deflating slightly.

“It would be a great help though if tomorrow we shifted back your start time so you could be here instead for closing,” Alex found himself saying, “If you don’t mind, of course-”

“No problem boss!” Serena assured. “I’ll be here bright and- uh….late?” Alex warmly chuckled and said,

“Good night, Serena.”

“Seriously, though, it’s only a half hour!” Serena said. It was only another half hour. And even if he had to do all the closing tasks he could keep focusing on baking and it would make it that much faster for him to leave at the end of the night. 

“You don’t mind?” Alex hopefully asked. 

“Nope!” Serena said with a grin. 

“A-Alright,” Alex relented. 

“Great!” Serena said, happily going back to frosting cupcakes for a special order. Alex gratefully smiled as he walked back into the kitchen He was blessed to at least have Wedge and Serena. Though they couldn’t do a lot, they tried and that meant the world to Alex. Still smiling, Alex got to work with the morning bake for tomorrow. Although it was nice he would be able to leave a little earlier than usual, it left a bittersweet feeling in his chest. He had gotten so used to Zeb being the one to come and help out. It almost felt….wrong not having Zeb here. He knew it was selfish, knew it was unfair, but he couldn’t help but feel sad over that fact. 

No point in dwelling on the past, he needed to focus on moving forward. Survive until Lyste got back. Find a way to limp things along and once he got back it would be better. It had to be. 

He just had to keep clinging onto that hope and everything would be fine-

“Uhh, Alex?” Serena said, poking her head in back right at closing. 

“You can go home once you lock up,” Alex said, not even bothering to look up from what he was working on. 

“That’s not it,” Serena said. “There's a man out here...he insists on speaking with you.”

“A man?” Alex asked, heart skipping a beat, unable to stop the hope that blossomed in his chest. Had Zeb come still? Did he not hate Alex for his pathetic blundering confession from yesterday? 

“Uh-huh,” Serena uncertainly said. “I can tell him to leave-”

“No!” Alex exclaimed, clearing his throat to more calmly repeat, “No, no I’ll be out in just a moment.”

“Uhh….okay….” Serena said. 

“Just lock up and you can head out okay?” Alex softly said, Serena staring at him slowly blinking as she nodded her head. 

“Uh… Okay boss….” Before slipping outside. He didn’t know it was Zeb for sure technically, but it couldn’t be anyone but him. Ripping off his apron, Alex tossed it onto the workbench and walked outfront, trying to keep his beaming smile under control when he indeed found Zeb nervously waiting on the other side of the counter for him. 

Get yourself under control. Alex silently chided himself. Zeb is just here as a friend. Nothing more. Still, knowing maybe he hadn’t ruined even his chance at friendship filled him with a joy he hadn’t felt since he first opened the bakery. 

“Zeb,” Alex softly said, hoping to catch Zeb’s eye who was pointedly looking anywhere but him. 

“Hey Alex,” Zeb mumbled, swallowing thickly as he nervously glanced up at him. “I uh...I came here to uh….to talk about yesterday…”

“O-oh….” Alex said, stomach dropping. Was Zeb here simply to tell Alex he wanted nothing to do with him? 

“I uh...I need to apologize to ya,” Zeb quickly said. “I didn’t….I didn’t understand what you were tryin’ to tell me.”

“Oh….” Alex uncertainly said, not sure where this was going. 

“Y-yeah I-” Zeb froze, cutting off suddenly as he glanced to the side, Alex following his gaze to lock eyes with Serena who awkwardly waved. 

“You can go now,” Alex firmly repeated, Serena quickly nodding and saying, 

“Right, right, yes, gone!” Before scurrying out of the main dining area and back into the kitchen, neither speaking until they heard the back door open and then close. 

“It’s just us now,” Alex whispered, locking eyes with Zeb. 

“I uh….I’m not very good with words,” Zeb swallowed thickly awkwardly sliding his hands up and down the neck of the bottle Alex finally noticed he was holding clenched in his hands. Noticing Alex glancing at the bottle, Zeb held it out saying, “A peace offering. I uh- I wanted- I thought instead of working maybe we could just sit down, have a drink and just talk.”

“Oh,” Alex said, completely caught off guard by the request. Zeb brought wine as a peace offering to just...talk? Certainly a strange peace offering. It took a moment for him to realize he had not answered yet and Zeb was staring at him expectantly. “That sounds...nice,” Alex softly said. “Let me grab some cups...and I have some leftovers I can’t use tomorrow….”

“That sounds great,” Zeb whispered, a warm smile on his face that Alex eagerly returned.

“Be right back.” Alex said, turning and walking in back where the coffee machine was, grabbing two mugs--they weren’t wine glasses but they would have to do--and some plates before heading out front, pausing beside the stereo system for the front. Maybe it was a bit presumptuous, but deciding the risk might be worth it, Alex turned on the system, music filtering from the speakers into the front. Once out front, Alex grabbed two chocolate cupcakes that Serena had set aside to toss and brought them over to the table Zeb had sat down at. 

“I hope you like them,” Alex said, setting the cupcakes and mugs down. 

“It’s perfect,” Zeb said, pouring them each a generous glass into the coffee cups. “Interestin’ choice of glass here ‘Lex,” Zeb teasingly said as he passed Alex a mug, sparks flying between them when their fingers brushed as Alex took one of the mugs. 

“‘Lex?” Alex asked, staring at Zeb as he took a sip of the wine. 

“Yea….sorry, don’t like that?” 

“It’s fine it’s just….I didn’t expect it,” Alex slowly said, lifting the mug to take another sip himself. 

“You still didn’t answer my question,” Zeb said. 

“About the nickname?”

“No,” Zeb said with a laugh, “‘Bout the mugs.”

“That sounded more like a statement than anything else,” Alex said with a raised eyebrow, feeling himself relaxing. This was familiar, comfortable even. He could handle this. 

“I’m just surprised such a posh place like this doesn’t have super fancy glasses of some sort.”

“Well we only serve tea and coffee,” Alex said with a shrug, “No need for anything nicer, especially with excitable children always being here, nicer glasses are more expensive to replace and even with these guys we lose several a week at least.”

“Hmmm alright fair,” Zeb said as he took another drink, Alex doing the same, already feeling warm and tingly. 

“Oh, try the cupcake,” Alex said, gesturing to Zeb’s plate. 

“Oh, right!” Zeb said, carefully picking it up and pulling back the wrapper, Alex not picking his up, staring intently at Zeb waiting for his response. Zeb carefully bit into the cupcake, letting out a happy humm as he chewed. “This is good! Really, really good!”

“Really?” Alex hopefully asked, nervously twiddling his thumbs, staring intently at them as he did so. “I know some people complain it isn’t sweet enough and I keep considering using a less dark chocolate for the cupcakes but the frosting is so sweet-”

“Alex,” Zeb said, placing his hand on top of Alex’s, Alex snapping his gaze back up at Zeb, “It’s perfect the way it is.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Alex mumbled, starting to duck his head, only for Zeb to tenderly reach up to cup his cheek so he couldn’t look away, Alex involuntarily leaning into the touch, cheeks warm as he looked into Zeb’s eyes.

“You should be proud of everything you make. It is all amazin’...better than Chava’s even.” Alex spluttering in shock at Zeb’s words. Their fight on Alex’s grand opening had been about how much better Chava’s had been and how her bakery should be open and not his. There was no way he actually thought his baking was better than hers. “Really,” Zeb whispered, stroking Alex’s cheek with his thumb. “This place you’ve made....it’s incredible and I’m blessed to be here with you as you continue to build it.”

“So y-you want to keep helping?” Alex breathed, heart soaring at the words. 

“That’s why I’m here,” Zeb admitted. “Even after Lyste comes back I still want to help as much as I can...I enjoy spending time with you whenever I can.”

“Me too,” Alex whispered, in the back of his mind noticing a loud, upbeat song starting to play over the radio. He wanted to get up and turn it down, but that would mean stepping away from this moment, one he never wanted to end. Zeb’s eyes lit up as he registered the song that was playing in the background, an excited grin spreading across his face as he stood up, his warm hand falling away from Alex’s face leaving a cold feeling in its place. 

“I love this song!” Zeb cried, glancing up at the speakers before looking back down at Alex, holding out his hand. “Would you dance with me?”

“D-Dance?” Alex asked, staring at Zeb incredulously, heart pounding in his chest. Why was he asking Alex to dance? 

“Dance,” Zeb repeated, leaning down to take both of Alex’s hands in his own, looking down at Alex pleadingly. “Please?” Zeb’s beautiful green eyes shone down at him, so hopeful and excited Alex found himself saying,

“Okay.”

Beaming, Zeb gently pulled Alex to his feet before starting to excitedly swing him around the dining room, laughing joyously as they spun around like highschoolers at a school dance, Alex unable to help laughing with him as Zeb started jumping around as they spun ridiculously.

“Is this even dancing?” Alex breathlessly asked. 

“Who cares!” Zeb whooped, playfully starting to twirl Alex who couldn’t help but laugh as he did so. Maybe it was the alcohol in his system, maybe it was just the joy of having Zeb standing here beside him, maybe it was even just the sheer relief at knowing Zeb wasn’t going anywhere, but regardless of the reason, Alex found he didn’t care how ridiculous they looked, a pair of grown adults spinning around and laughing like children. He was just so happy in that moment he didn’t care who saw him or what anyone thought of them, all that existed in the world in that moment was himself, Zeb, and the music surrounding them. 

As the song ended and the next one started, the pair continued their ridiculous dance, already breathless but too happy to care. Song after song they danced, their movements slowing as the music slowed, giving them a moment to catch their breaths, letting their heartbeats return to normal. 

As the music continued to slow, Zeb tentatively took one of Alex’s hands in his own and raised it, the other tenderly wrapping around his waist to pull him close. “This okay?” Zeb whispered into Alex’s ear. 

“It’s perfect,” Alex breathed, resting his free hand on Zeb’s shoulder, letting Zeb sway him to the beat of the music. 

“It’s been a long time since I went dancin’,” Zeb whispered. 

“I’ve...never really been dancing,” Alex admitted, keeping his tone hushed as well.

“Really?” Zeb softly asked. 

“I know it’s not much of a surprise but...yeah,” Alex said with a nervous laugh, Zeb warmly chuckling in return, Alex practically feeling the laugh in his chest from how close they were. 

“Well you are a divine dance partner,” Zeb praised. 

“I-I’d hardly say that-” Alex stammered, face red as he ducked his head. 

“You are, even if you’re covered in flour.”

“Oh dear,” Alex groaned. He was probably an absolute mess, covering in four and frosting and whatever else with massive bags under his eyes. “I must be quite the sight.”

“Nah,” Zeb assured, tenderly reaching up to cup Alex’s cheek, gently swiping it with his thumb. “It’s cute on you.” All Alex could focus on was how close they where, how easy it would be for one to close the gap and press their lips together-

“Alex,” Zeb breathed, locking eyes with Alex’s. “Can I-...I want- I-If you want-”

“Yes,” Alex breathed, not even needing to hear the question, knowing what Zeb wanted, him wanting, _needing_ , the same. Zeb let out a small stunned gasp, searching Alex’s face for any sign of doubt before slowly leaning in, both tilting their heads as Zeb brushed his lips against Alex’s, a soft moan escaping his lips at the touch. 

The kiss was soft and tentative, both pulling away for a fraction of a second, waiting for the other to try and pull away. When neither did they once again closed the gap, Zeb reaching up with his other hand to cradle Alex’s face in his hands as they kissed, Alex wrapping his arms around Zeb’s waist, melting into his embrace. 

This was perfect, everything he’d ever dreamed it would be, Zeb’s soft warm lips pressed against his, tentatively parting just barely-

“Alex! Alex are you- o-oh-...” A startled voice exclaimed, the pair breaking apart in shock, glancing towards the source of the sound, Alex’s breath leaving his lungs when his eyes landed on Lyste awkwardly standing in the doorway of the kitchen. 

“L-Lyste?” Alex gasped, pulling away slightly from Zeb who awkwardly dropped his arms. 

“Yeah-”

“Lyste!” Alex exclaimed, tears trickling out of the corners of his eyes as he ran around the counter, flinging his arms around Lyste who stumbled back slightly before gratefully returning the embrace. “You’re okay.” Alex breathed, tears sliding down his face, burying his face in Lyste’s neck who hugged him tighter. 

“I’m okay,” Lyste assured. 

“W-what happened? I was so worried about you I-” Alex froze at the sound of the back entrance opening and then closing again, frantically looking around the room for Zeb, only to find he was gone. 

“Zeb?” Alex called, pulling away from Lyste quickly saying, “I-I’ll be right back! Don’t go anywhere!”

“Go,” Lyste said. “I’ll be here.” Flashing a grateful smile Alex ran through the kitchen and out the back door where Zeb was already halfway to his car. 

“Zeb, wait!” Alex cried, Zeb freezing, slowly turning to face Alex. 

“What are you doin’?” Zeb softly said as Alex ran up to him. “You should be with Lyste-”

“I-I just-” Alex stammered, hating that he completely forgot about Zeb. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have just- you still- you do matter and-”

“Hey, hey,” Zeb assured, cupping Alex’s cheek with his hand, soothingly bending over to kiss his forehead. “It’s okay I get it. You’ve been worried sick ‘bout him. I figured you two needed a moment alone. I didn’t want to disrupt ya.”

“You’re not angry?” Alex asked, searching Zeb’s face for any sign he was upset with him. Zeb merely smiled tenderly at him whispering, 

“Never.” Before softly pecking his lips. 

“Go, we can talk later okay?” Zeb whispered.

“Tomorrow?” Alex hopefully asked. 

“Tomorrow,” Zeb echoed, pecking his lips again before pulling away. Alex waited until he was safely in his car and had pulled onto the street before returning to the bakery where Lyste was still patiently waiting for him, sitting at the table Alex and Zeb had sat at. 

“So...Zeb, huh?” Lyste asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Long story but we need to back up,” Alex said, sitting down across from Lyste. “Last I saw you, you were still in a coma! When did you wake up? How did you even get here?”

“I woke up a week ago,” Lyste said, Alex’s eyes widening. “Why did no one contact me!”

“My parents said they would,” Lyste said with an eye roll. “They also told me you said you were too busy to bother to come by.” 

“No surprise there,” Alex grumbled with an eye roll. 

“Well okay she tried to make it sound nicer,” Lyste said with a humorless laugh. “Something about you being swamped with work and just couldn’t find the time, shouldn’t I understand?”

“Wow, she tried so hard to be nice about keeping me from seeing you,” Alex spat out. 

“I thought her head was going to explode from her trying so hard,” Lyste said with a laugh. 

“I just thought she’d try and use this to convince you to leave,” Alex admitted. 

“Oh, she tried,” Lyste said with an eyeroll. “Said this accident only happened because I work too hard and I’m too tired and stressed from this job and I should really consider finding a less stressful work environment.”

“Ah, there it is,” Alex said. “But...she’s not totally wrong-”

“Please, not you too!” Lyste groaned. 

“Just more….” Alex trailed off, tightly clutching the mug in his hands. “We do work long hard hours and….it’s hard….I’ve really seen that recently….”

“Well I’m back now,” Lyste firmly said. “And I can work again starting right away!” 

“Lyste you just got out of the hospital-” Alex argued, Lyste frantically cutting him off. 

“I have been lying around in bed all week, I’ve been going stir crazy, please!”

“Okay, okay!” Alex quickly said, holding out his hands. “You feel up to opening tomorrow?”

“You can count on me!” Lyste assured. 

“Good,” Alex sighed, a grateful smile on his face. “I actually started closing on Sundays and Mondays because I was working every day and it was just becoming too much….”

“I can imagine!” Lyste cried, eyes wide. “Maybe you can not come in tomorrow-?”

“Well I was thinking,” Alex cut Lyste off. “I decided to close Sundays and Mondays because they were by a significant margin slower than the other days. Anyone who really wanted to come in for the most part just came in a different day….maybe we can permanently keep a shorter week and I can come in on Monday to get started on baking for the week and not come in on Saturday?”

“That’s not a bad idea at all!” Lyste exclaimed, eyes wide. “It would allow us for the time being to keep a smaller staff while we establish ourselves and give us time to really focus on getting good people working for us! It would also get my dear mother off my back about working too much.”

“When we do reopen those days I think it would be good to consider hiring a part time baker,” Alex reluctantly said. 

“A part time baker?” Lyste curiously asked. 

“Well even with the fewer days I usually am here for ten hours just keeping up with the baking needs,” Alex uncomfortably said. “A part time baker when I’m not here would give me flexibility to-”

“No, no, I agree!” Lyste exclaimed. “I was just stunned you were the one to suggest it!” 

“Well….someone taught me the value of taking care of oneself and just….living, actually living.”

“Zeb?” Lyste asked with a smirk on his face. 

“Maybe,” Alex mumbled, ducking his head. 

“I can’t believe it!” Lyste exclaimed resting his head in his palm with a wistful look on his face. “My Alex in love.” 

“Oh shut up,” Alex said, face burning. 

“So how long have you two been a thing? How did it happen?” Lyste eagerly asked, eyes bright. 

“Well….” Alex slowly said, awkwardly running a hand through his hair. Was there a delicate way to tell someone they interrupted a couple’s first kiss?

“....Wait,” Lyste said, lifting his head up, eyes wide. “Was that your-”

“Yes,” Alex said, squeezing his eyes shut, wincing slightly.

“I can’t believe I interrupted your first kiss with him!” Lyste cried. 

“Well-”

“I am so sorry!” Lyste cried, jumping to his feet. “I-you need to-”

“Zeb told me I should be here with you,” Alex gently assured. “He knows how worried I’ve been about you….”

“...oh,” Lyste sighed, collapsing back into his seat. “Well that’s a relief.”

“So don’t worry okay?”

“Well….let me make it up to you!” Lyste exclaimed. 

“You really don’t-”

“I can finish cleaning up!” Lyste assured.

“You don’t-”

“Please,” Lyste begged. “Let me do this for you.”

“...Are you sure you’re strong enough-”

“Yes!” Lyste firmly said. “I can handle what’s left! You finished all the baking right?”

“I did,” Alex said. “Thanks to Serena.”

“That’s the new girl we just hired right?”

“Not so new anymore but yes,” Alex agreed. “She’s been working out wonderfully.”

“Great!” Lyste exclaimed. “Perfect, I knew she’d be a good fit!”

“You were right,” Alex said with a laugh. 

“See, I have good ideas sometimes!” Lyste declared, puffing out his chest. 

“Sometimes,” Alex said with a wink. 

“Hey!” Lyste cried. “Here I am offering to drag my weak body here to help you out-”

“What happened to ‘going stir crazy’ and ‘definitely strong enough’?” Alex asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Just go, asshole,” Lyste said with an eyeroll.

“Okay, okay I’m going.” Alex said, slowly backing away. “....It’s really good to have you back.” he softly added. 

“It’s good to be back,” Lyste admitted with a warm smile that Alex returned. “Now seriously, go before I change my mind.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Alex said with a wave. 

“Will you be opening?” Lyste warningly asked. 

“I will be sleeping in,” Alex said, earning a wide grin from Lyste. 

“Good! ‘Night!”

“Don’t stay too late!”

“I won’t!” Lyste assured, waving Alex out, Alex walking out with a bounce in his step that he hadn’t had since before Lyste’s accident. Things were finally starting to look up.


	13. Shovel Talk

The next few weeks seemed to fly by for Zeb. Despite Lyste being back at the bakery Zeb continued to visit as much as he could, Alex visiting him in the shop when he wasn’t working. Zeb found that having the company, especially when he was carving, was really nice. It gave him someone to bounce his thoughts and ideas off of when he was stuck, or just someone to remind him that his work was good and that people would love it when self doubt started to eat away at him. 

Even though he knew Alex didn’t technically need his help at the bakery anymore, he still found himself helping out if Alex was there after closing. It was oddly relaxing work, and even though Alex didn’t say it, he knew Alex appreciated the help. 

Progress on his commission was coming along great as the deadline was rapidly approaching, Zeb’s hands flying across the piece, his mind's eye effortlessly seeing each cut and carve that was needed to bring his vision to life. Despite his rapidly approaching deadline, Zeb also realized he couldn’t just work nonstop for risk of completely burning himself out or worse, making a tragic mistake that would completely ruin months of hard work. 

Despite Alex’s worries, just two days before the piece was going to be picked up and three before the grand opening, Zeb still came to visit Alex at the bakery. 

“Hey Alex-”

“Zeb!” Alex cried, jumping up from what he was doing to look over at him in shock. “What are you doing here? You should be working on your big piece-”

“I appreciate the concern,” Zeb softly said, walking over to wrap his arms around Alex’s waist and kiss his forehead. “But I’ll be fine. ‘Sides I really needed a break from carvin’.”

“....you sure?” Alex softly asked, leaning up to peck his lips. 

“Positive,” Zeb assured, softly kissing him back. 

“Alright,” Alex breathed with a soft smile.

“Sides, looks like you could use a break too,” Zeb purred, pulling him back into a deep kiss. 

“I wish,” Alex whispered against Zeb’s lips. “Got a big order to finish.” 

“That can wait,” Zeb mumbled as he kissed Alex again who didn’t try all that hard to argue.

“I’m going to get some dinner,” Lyste loudly said.

“Take your time,” Alex dismissively said 

“I’ll be back!” Lyste added. 

“You don’t have to.” Alex assured, his gaze firmly locked with Zeb’s.

“Someone has to make sure the order gets finished,” Lyste grumbled as he walked out of the back door.

“Should we-”

“Yea,” Alex sighed, Zeb dropping his arms so Alex could step away and focus back on what he was working on. 

“So how much frostin’ do these guys get?” Zeb curiously asked as he watched Alex pipe a large round mound of frosting on each cupcake. 

“Well these will be getting dipped in ganache,” Alex explained. “I need to frost them and get them in the fridge so the frosting will be solid enough to not completely melt when dipped.”

“That seems way more complicated than necessary,” Zeb said. 

“That’s why people buy them from me,” Alex said as he picked up the finished tray and walked over to the fridge, Zeb waiting for Alex to step back out again before saying,

“So they make you do all of the work and then they swoop in to reap the rewards?”

“Yep,” Alex cheerfully said. “And they pay me for it.”

“Oh so it's only about the money huh?” Zeb teasingly said. 

“I gotta pay the bills somehow and I doubt my boyfriend would appreciate it if I started stripping,” Alex said with a laugh, Zeb’s heart fluttering at the word ‘boyfriend’. He doubted he would ever get used to hearing that word from Alex’s mouth referring to him. Zeb swallowed a snarky remark about not minding if it was for him and said instead, 

“Want some help?”

“I wouldn’t be opposed,” Alex softly said. “But only if you don’t mind.”

“I never mind,” Zeb tenderly assured. Alex beamed and pecked his cheek asking,

“Could you grab some trays for me?”

“Sure,” Zeb said, walking over to grab them, laying them out on the work bench for Alex. 

“Thanks,” Alex said. 

“‘Course, love ya-” Zeb replied, both freezing as the pair registered what it was Zeb had just said. “I-I I uh-” Zeb stammered, unable to figure out what to say. They hadn’t said “I love you” before. “I love you'' was supposed to be said for the first night while on a romantic date or while curled in each other's arms, a first “I love you” was special. It shouldn’t be wasted on something so stupid like Zeb had just done.

“Say it again,” Alex whispered, stepping closer to Zeb, an unreadable expression on his face. Zeb could try and take it back, pretend he didn’t say it, but he found he didn’t want to. Despite hating the scenario he said it in, he still meant it. 

“I love you,” Zeb breathed, a joyous sob slipping out of Alex’s lips as he threw himself at Zeb who stumbled back at the sudden impact, steadying himself to eagerly kiss Alex back, who broke away long enough to whisper,

“I love you too.” Before frantically pressing his lips against Zeb’s once more in a bruising kiss, Zeb eagerly responding, pushing him back against the work bench, Alex moaning in pleasure as he tangled his fingers in Zeb’s hair, tugging Zeb closer who eagerly responded, wrapping his arms around Alex’s waist. 

“I want you,” Alex breathed when they broke apart for air, heavily panting, breathing in each other's intoxicating warm breaths.

“I want you too,” Zeb panted, frantically kissing Alex once more who pulled away to gasp,

“I still have the cot in the office.” Zeb’s heart thundering in his chest. Alex really wanted their first time to be in the back of his place of work on a rickety old cot? Looking into Alex’s eyes, he could see the deep desire burning inside of them, begging for everything Zeb would give him, and he could give Alex everything. 

Letting out a small growl Zeb lifted Alex up who eagerly wrapped his legs around Zeb’s waist, pressing against him as they started frantically kissing again, awkwardly stumbling towards the office, Zeb slamming Alex into the wall beside the door as they continued to kiss, grinding against him, Alex fumbling for the door handle as they continued to kiss, Zeb nipping Alex’s lips who moaned in pleasure as he finally got the door open, the pair stumbled into the office, Zeb at least momentarily having the mind to kick the office door closed behind them. 

\---

Zeb had absolutely no desire to move from his comfortable spot with Alex sleepily curled up in his arms, both completely satisfyingly spent. Alex looked so peaceful, lightly sleeping next to him, both barely able to fit themselves onto the small cot, both too exhausted from their earlier activities to care how uncomfortable it was.

No if he could he would stay here curled up in Alex’s arms forever. His damned bladder though did not seem to care how comfortable he currently was. Maybe if he was quick enough he could slip back into his spot before Alex woke up and tried to resume working. Careful not to disturb him, Zeb slowly untangled himself from Alex, leaning down to tenderly kiss his temple before reaching for his clothes. Normally he wouldn’t bother getting dressed, but he was painfully aware of the fact that the bathroom was in the front of the store and there were very large windows that looked out onto a very busy street and he really did not need someone seeing and potentially calling the cops on him. 

Moving as silently as possible, Zeb yanked his pants on and threw his shirt on before slipping out, carefully shutting the door behind him, nearly jumping out of his skin when an icy voice asked, 

“Have fun?”

“L-Lyste right?” Zeb slowly asked, stunned by the difference between the excitable and cheery man he’d met several weeks ago in his shop to the one now glaring at him over a coffee mug. His expression was cold and unreadable. 

“We never really got properly introduced, Garazeb,” Lyste agreed. Zeb chuckled nervously as he bounced on his heels. 

“Did you eh-”

“Oh I heard everything,” Lyste said, setting his mug down on the table with a loud clunk. “Alex is my best friend and while I am happy he’s happy...I need to make sure you understand something.” Lyste walked over to Zeb, getting right into his personal space as he dangerously growled, “Alex is my family, my only family. He means everything to me. If you hurt him, I will make sure you regret ever being born.” 

Despite being much taller and buffer then the man glaring up at him, Zeb found himself slightly afraid of Lyste and what he might try to do to him if he did hurt Alex. 

“I could never do that,” Zeb sincerely whispered. “I love him.” Lyste warily eyed Zeb for a moment before backing away saying,

“Good. But next time you two get horny, take it somewhere besides my office.”

“Wait- this is your office?” Zeb asked, feeling slightly embarrassed he’d screwed someone in another man's private office. 

“You can hardly call it your office when we only have one in the building,” Alex said through a yawn as he slipped out wrapping an arm around Zeb’s waist to lazily nuzzle into his side, Zeb’s arm automatically wrapping around his waist in return, leaning over to kiss his forehead. Sleepy Alex was apparently very affectionate. 

“W-well I mostly use it!” Lyste exclaimed. 

“Well it’s free now,” Alex said with a lazy smirk up at Zeb who felt his cheeks burning at the look. 

“Why would I work in there with the...mess you two have made!” Lyste cried. 

“Oh stop worrying,” Alex chided, leaning up to peck Zeb’s cheek, “Zeb cleans up very nicely.” Lyste stared at the pair mouth gaping for a moment before huffing and stomping into the office, tossing out the last of Zeb’s things before slamming the door shut.

“...oops….” Zeb mumbled. 

“Don’t worry about him,” Alex gently assured, tugging him down for another lazy kiss. “He’ll get over it.”

“You sure…?” Zeb undertainly asked, glancing back at the door. Lyste had been terrifying…

“Yes,” Alex assured. “I’ve been his best friend for as long as I can remember. He won’t hurt anyone. Especially someone like you.”

“Aww- wait what’s that supposed to mean?” Zeb asked, glaring down at Alex who merely smirked and said. 

“It means you are built like a bull and Lyste is a scrawny mouse-”

“I heard that!” Lyste said from behind the closed door. 

“A loveable one!” Alex called back. 

“....I’m still insulted,” Lyste grumbled. 

“Maybe I should go…” Zeb uncomfortably said. 

“Might not be a bad idea,” Alex said with a shrug. “You need plenty of rest, you’re probably going to be carving all day tomorrow for this weekend.”

“Well not all but...well okay maybe all…” Zeb mumbled as Alex pecked his cheek again. 

“Go, if you’d like I can visit you tomorrow at the shop-”

“Please do!” Lyste groaned from the other side of the door. 

“You don’t have to listen to us,” Alex said with an eyeroll.

“You two are very hard to ignore!” Lyste snapped, earning a chuckle from Alex who tugged Zeb over to the door. 

“Seriously don’t worry about him, I’ll smooth it over.” Alex assured, pecking his lips. 

“...alright,” Zeb mumbled. “I love you.”

Alex smiled adoringly at Zeb, reaching up to cup his cheek as he whispered back, “I love you too.” Zeb tenderly took his hand and kissed it mumbling, 

“Shouldn’t’ve taken me this long to say.”

“We were never a normal pair where we?” Alex whispered. 

“Definitely not.” Zeb said with a chuckle, leaning down to kiss Alex again. 

“Now go before Lyste explodes,” Alex said with a chuckle.

“Wait my clothes-”

“Oh right,” Alex said, reluctantly pulling away from Zeb. “Let me grab them.” 

“Kay,” Zeb mumbled as Alex backed away slowly, reluctantly turning away so he could safely walk over to get Zeb’s shoes and undershirt, quickly walking back over to pass them to Zeb, who in lieu of thanks pecked Alex’s lips, Alex responding with a peck in return. 

“Are you two done yet?” Lyste snapped. 

“Relax, I’m sure you’ll someday meet someone lovely,” Alex retorted, Lyste spluttering angrily from the office for a moment before opening the door and leaning out,

“I’ll have you know-”

“Relax, I was joking,” Alex said. “My how the tables have turned.”

“Oh shut up!” Lyste grumbled, slamming the door shut again. 

“Yeah, I should-” Zeb awkwardly said, pointing to the door. 

“Probably,” Alex sadly agreed. “I’ll see you okay?”

“See you,” Zeb whispered, opening the door. 

“See you,” Alex replied as Zeb backed out. 

“I’ll uh, I’ll put these on outside.”

“Might be smart,” Alex said with an affectionate chuckle. 

“...right,” Zeb agreed. “Bye….”

“Bye.” Alex softly said, Zeb finally letting the door shut between them. It was strange, it wasn’t normally so difficult to say goodbye to Alex, but tonight, tonight was different. He had told Alex he loved him, and Alex had said it back. The realization that Alex actually loved him back left Zeb dizzy with affection, leaning against his car as joyful laughter bubbled from his chest. He didn’t care how ridiculous he looked, the man he loved, loved him back.

“He loves me….” Zeb breathlessly whispered, before shouting, “He loves me!” Breaking out into joyous laughter, unable to even try and hide his joy. Zeb stared wistfully back at the bakery, fighting to urge to run back inside and scoop Alex into his arms and spin him around showering him with more affection. He wanted to do so, so badly. But he also knew Alex was right, he needed to finish everything for this weekend. It was finally going to be the grand opening for the hotel and Friday afternoon the piece would be getting picked up to be taken to the hotel. He needed to make sure everything was perfect before they arrived. 

He only had one full day left to finish up anything he needed to, and he knew he would need as much time as he could get. Alex insisted it was perfect already, but Zeb wasn’t quite satisfied yet. It needed to be without a shadow of a doubt absolutely perfect. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Zeb straightened himself and finally climbed into his truck. 

He had a long day tomorrow, and he needed to be prepared.


	14. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting so close to the ending! I hope you guys have enjoyed the ride so far!

Zeb tore his gaze away from his piece to gaze worriedly at the clock before turning back to the piece, willing the finish to fully dry just a little faster. Despite feeling like there was so much more that could be added or improved, late last night Zeb had to accept that the piece just had to be finished and the finish applied so it would dry in time. He had given it plenty of time to dry, why was it still not ready yet? The drivers scheduled to pick it up would likely be there any minute! He couldn’t tell them to wait because he failed to get the finish on in time! 

What if the buyer was pissed because of the delay? What if he canceled the commission because of it? What if-

“Hello Zeb-....Zeb are you alright?” Alex’s warm voice asked, bringing Zeb back to the present momentarily before the panic set back in again. 

“I-it’s not done!” Zeb cried, staring at the piece again and the still wet finish that glistened in the lights. “What have I done? I should have gotten it on sooner-”

“Hey, hey,” Alex soothingly said, placed his hands on Zeb’s shoulders, tightly squeezing them reassuringly. “What’s going on? What’s not finished?”

“The finish isn’t dry yet,” Zeb whimpered. “It can’t be moved until it’s dry but it’s just not drying fast enough! I-I- the buyer will be pissed-”

“Hey,” Alex gently said. “I’ve run into this sometimes at the bakery, just call the buyer and see if you can push back the pickup time.”

“...won’t that make me look terrible?” Zeb groaned. 

“The buyer may be annoyed,” Alex admitted. “But regardless of how they would react to you calling them, from experience I know they’ll generally be more annoyed at having arrived to find it’s not ready yet.”

“I...uh yeah, you’re probably right,” Zeb groaned, grabbing his phone from his pocket to call the driver who was scheduled to pick up the piece. Before he could call them however, his phone started ringing, their number flashing on the screen. “Crap,” Zeb groaned as he picked up the phone. “This is Zeb.”

“Hey Zeb,” A male voice said. “I’m scheduled to make a pickup from you at 3 today right?”

“Yea that’s right,” Zeb said, scratching the back of his neck. “I was, uh, actually gonna call you about the pickup, things are running a bit behind and the piece isn’t dry yet….”

“I can work around that,” The driver assured. “I’ve got another delivery scheduled right after you I can switch with nearby.”

“That would be great, thank you!” Zeb exclaimed. 

“I’ll call later with a new ETA,” The driver said. “I’ll talk to you later.” 

“Thank you again,” Zeb said before hanging up, sighing in relief. He had a little more time. He could breath for a moment. 

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Alex soothingly said with a small smirk on his face. 

“Oh shut it,” Zeb said, playfully hitting Alex’s arms with no real malice in the motion, Alex laughing at the gesture, a fond smile on his face. 

“Maybe this will be enough time for the piece to be ready.” Alex said, the panic quickly settling back in as more what if’s swam through his mind. 

“W-what if it’s not? What if-”

“Hey, hey,” Alex soothingly said. “No use worrying about that, you’ve done everything you can. Now is the time to relax and breathe.” 

“R-right I mean I know I just- ugh,” Zeb groaned, pacing through his shop trying to burn off nervous energy.

“I know my first big custom order was terrifying,” Alex softly said. “I wanted so badly to get everything perfect.”

“....did ya?” Zeb softly asked. 

“No,” Alex admitted. “And you know what happened?”

“What?” Zeb asked, heart clenching in terror. 

“They still loved it,” Alex said, squeezing Zeb’s shoulder. “This is spectacular, so what if the finish is taking longer then expected to dry? This piece will be something the hotel will display with pride for years to come, I know it.”

“....you really think so?” Zeb whispered. 

“I know it,” Alex firmly said. 

“I just….I want this to go well….people see this is what I can do and it could help give me work for years.”

“I know this is huge,” Alex assured, wrapping a reassuring arm around Zeb’s waist. “It’s going to be okay, better than okay. “Tomorrow is your big day, and it is going to be amazing.”

“I really really hope you’re right,” Zeb nervously mumbled, Alex softly pecking his cheek.

“Trust me.” Alex whispered. 

“I’ll try,” Zeb mumbled, wrapping his arm around Alex’s waist.

“All I can ask,” Alex whispered, pecking Zeb’s lips with a soft sigh. 

“Thanks for being here,” Zeb mumbled against Alex’s lips. 

“It’s the least I could do,” Alex assured. “Especially after all you’ve done for me.”

“I didn’t do that much,” Zeb mumbled sheepishly, glancing away from Alex who reached up to cup Zeb’s cheek to turn his face back to him. “I don’t think you could ever realize how much you’ve done for me.”

“I’m glad to have helped,” Zeb whispered, tenderly pecking Alex’s lips. 

“Hey, uh, boss- aw, come on guys,” Ketsu groaned. 

“What is it Ketsu,” Zeb groaned, pulling away from Zeb who couldn’t help but giggle at her words.

“Some guy is up front asking for you? I think it’s the guy that preordered the piece you’ve been working on, the starry wolf one?”

“Oh right!” Zeb said. “Just a sec Alex, let me take care of this!”

“Take your time,” Alex soothingly said, reaching up to peck his lips. Resisting the urge to lean over and kiss him again Zeb pulled away and stepped out front where Thrawn was curiously browsing another carving on the wall. 

“Hey,” Zeb greeted, catching Thrawn’s attention. 

“Hello,” Thrawn greeted. “I’m surprised you came out to see me, I imagine you must be very busy preparing for your big day tomorrow.”

“Well I needed a break,” Zeb said, trying to recall if he had mentioned to Thrawn about the big grand opening being this weekend specifically. He couldn’t recall if he had, but brushed it off, thinking he likely forgot about it. “And I personally wanted to be the one to give you this so I could see your face when you saw it.” 

“It’s finished?” Thrawn said, tone noticeably brighter than it usually was. 

“Yea, finally, am I right?” Zeb said with an awkward laugh as he stepped back behind the counter to grab it. As instructed it had been left on his bench, waiting to finally go home with its new owner. Zeb had taken smaller commissions in the past, but if he was being honest, no commission had worried Zeb as much as this one had, even if this was an unofficial one.

He had never put so much of his vulnerability and fears into a piece before, and Zeb both hoped and feared that it showed through. What if Thrawn hated the emotion he put into the piece? Zeb had to mentally chide himself for his spiraling emotions, he needed to just breathe. Thrawn had been watching and observing his work for most of the time making it. He had watched the piece slowly come to life on the wood as he carved it, it was silly of him to worry so much, and yet, the worrying thoughts consumed him, leaving his heart pounding in his chest as he brought it back to the front where Thrawn was patiently waiting for him. 

“I hope the finished piece lives up to your expectations,” Zeb nervously said, holding it protectively against his chest.

“I’m certain it will,” Thrawn assured. Zeb took a deep breath as he slowly lowered it onto the table for Thrawn to see. “Incredible.” Thrawn breathed, leaning closer to inspect some of the finer detailing in the night sky, Zeb letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. 

“You like it?” Zeb asked. 

“I do, quite so.” Thrawn said, glancing over at Zeb. “This is incredible...are you certain you still are willing to part ways with this?”

“Trust me I can’t keep every piece I like,” Zeb said with a laugh. “Side’s you’ve kind of been there the whole time I’ve made this one. Seems wrong ta keep it from ya.” 

“If you are certain,” Thrawn said, glancing back down at the piece. 

“I am,” Zeb said. “I’m glad it’s going to a home that will appreciate it.” 

“It certainly will be,” Thrawn assured. “I must admit I was worried you would not be able to finish in time.”

“In time for what?” Zeb curiously asked. 

“How much for the piece?” Thrawn asked, not answering the question and throwing off Zeb who hesitated for a moment before giving him the price, Thrawn not even batting an eye at it, immediately walking up to the register, whipping out a credit card for a surprised Ketsu who ran it, looking between Zeb and Thrawn in confusion as she handed it back to Thrawn. 

“Thank you again for your work.” Thrawn said. 

“Need some help getting this loaded up? Or would you like me to wrap it up-?”

“No, no I am fine thank you though,” Thrawn assured, picking up the piece himself. “Thank you again.” 

“Uhhh, you’re welcome?” Zeb said as the door shut behind Thrawn. 

“Weird,” Ketsu said with a shrug, leaning against the counter and pulling out her phone. 

“Hey, no phones out,” Zeb warningly said. 

“No one’s around,” Ketsu said with a shrug. 

“Just put it away before anyone comes in,” Zeb groaned. 

“I will, I will,” Ketsu dismissively said, Zeb groaning in frustration as he walked into the back to meet Alex. 

“Problem?” Alex worriedly asked. 

“Just my employee,” Zeb said with an eyeroll. “Kids these days…”

“She might just be bored,” Alex said. “Maybe give her some tasks to do…”

“She won’t do ‘em,” Zeb groaned. 

“Fire her….?” Alex whispered. 

“Nah, I’d never do that,” Zeb said. “She can sell my carvings like no one else and doesn’t cave when people try to get a lower price.” 

“Ah…” Alex slowly said. “As long as you’re happy with her I suppose….”

“She’s also ‘Bean’s friend, so,” Zeb said with a shrug. 

“Ah, so the truth comes out!” Alex cried with a laugh, earning a loud laugh from Zeb in response. 

“You got me!” Zeb exclaimed.

“I knew it,” Alex said with a laugh, kissing Zeb’s cheek. 

“You caught me, I give preferential treatment to my family and their friends.”

“Scandalous,” Alex said with a smirk. 

“What are you going to do about it?” Zeb asked. 

“Hmmm….you may need to pay a fine,” Alex said, brushing his hand up Zeb’s biceps. 

“Hmmm, what’s it gonna cost me?” Zeb purred, wrapping his arms around Alex’s waist. 

“A few of these,” Alex whispered, kissing Zeb’s lips, breaking away to start nipping Zeb’s neck whispering, “Some of these…” slowly trailing kisses up his neck once more. “And a few other things you can’t do here right now.”

“Oh, so a very steep fine,” Zeb gasped. 

“Can’t do the time, don’t do the crime,” Alex purred. 

“And if I can do the time,” Zeb asked, pushing Alex against his workbench. 

“I will happily keep collecting the necessary fines,” Alex declared as Zeb pulled him into another kiss, lifting Alex up to place him on the bench, keeping their lips pressed together in a heated kiss, pressing himself as close to Alex as possible who eagerly pressed into the kiss, moaning in pleasure, for a moment, forgetting Ketsu was upfront and could and likely would walk in on them at any moment. 

Alex wrapped his arms around Zeb’s neck, tugging him closer, also wrapping his legs around Zeb’s waist, further pressing their bodies together, leaving no space between them. Zeb hungrilly wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist, nipping at Alex’s lips, Alex moaning in pleasure, kissing him back with bruising force as he tangled his fingers in Zeb’s hair. 

Zeb could lose himself in everything that was Alex for all eternity, the feeling of his lips, soft yet holding a bruising force, the warmth he radiated against the body. Zeb snuck his hands beneath Alex’s shirt to caress the skin beneath, Alex shuddering at his touch, hungrily tugging Zeb’s hair more roughly, silently demanding more from him. 

It would be so easy to push him down onto the bench, climb on top of him and-

“Hey Zeb I- guys seriously?” Ketsu groaned, shattering the moment, the pair breaking apart, faces burning. 

“Uh….” How long had they been making out?

“Just- someone’s here to pick up the piece, apparently you didn’t answer and he wasn’t sure if he should come yet-”

“Shit!” Zeb cried, pulling away from Alex to run to his piece, carefully examining it to see if it had properly dried off or not.

“Think it’s okay to move yet?”

“I-I think so,” Zeb breathed, letting out a relieved sigh. 

“That’s great!” Alex said, taking Zeb’s hand and squeezing it. 

“Can you-” Zeb began, Ketsu cutting him off saying, 

“Yea yea just, don’t start kissing again,” Ketsu groaned, turning to walk away. 

Zeb nervously chuckled, rocking on his heels as he admitted, “Yeah that’s fair….”

“Hey, once this is finished….you could come back to my place…” Alex slowly mumbled, looking up nervously at Zeb, some of his hair falling in front of his face, Zeb reaching out to brush it away, tenderly caressing his cheek, Alex pressing a kiss into his hand. 

“You sure?” Zeb softly asked. 

“Course,” Alex whispered, looking up at him between his lashes seductively, adding in a husky tone. “You still have that fine to pay after all.” Leaving Zeb momentarily forgetting how to breathe. 

“Can’t go skippin’ out on that fine can I?” Zeb finally croaked out.

“Not unless you want to pay double,” Alex purred as Ketsu returned with the driver, leaving Zeb unable to answer, face burning as Ketsu gagged, the poor driver awkwardly chuckling, clearly unsure how he was supposed to respond to the situation. 

“So….is this the one that’s got to go?”

“Uh y-yeah,” Zeb stammered, nodding his head as he stepped away from Alex’s intoxicating presence. 

“Gotcha,” He said, walking around the carving. “She’s a beauty alright….but I, uh, don’t think I can lift her on my own.”

“We can help,” Alex offered, walking over to stand on the other side of the piece, Zeb following suit.

“Ketsu, can you make sure we don’t run into anything?” Zeb asked. 

“You got it,” Ketsu said, walking to the other side of the shop, opening the back garage door.

“Okay,” Zeb said, bending over to grab the base. “On three….one….two….three!” Simultaneously the three lifted the carving up, Zeb’s arms shaking with the effort as they moved as quickly as they could through the shop and to the truck parked out front. 

The trickiest part was mauvering it onto the truck but the small group eventually navigated it safely in place, the driver, huffing as he shut the truck saying, 

“Alright, time to get her to the hotel!”

“Be careful,” Zeb said anxiously. 

“I will don’t worry!” He assured as he walked around to the front to grab a clipboard. “Just sign here and we’re good to go.”

“Right,” Zeb sighed, quickly signing the paper and handing it back.

“Best of luck to you!” He said, waving his hand as he climbed into the drivers side of the truck, starting it up and carefully pulling out of the parking lot.

“It’s out of your hands now,” Alex soothingly said, reaching over to take Zeb’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. 

“I know,” Zeb sighed, taking a shaky breath. “This is all just so terrifying….”

“I know,” Alex softly said, wrapping his arm around Zeb’s waist, Zeb gratefully leaning into the touch, draping an arm around Alex’s shoulders, Alex leaning up to peck his forehead. “Come on, there's nothing you can do here at this point.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Zeb mumbled. 

“Come on, let’s go,” Alex whispered. 

“Probably a good idea,” Zeb agreed.

“Besides,” Alex whispered, pressing his lips to Zeb’s ear, “There’s the matter of that fine you owe me.” Zeb felt a shiver go up his spine at the words. 

“What if I try to skip town?” Zeb whispered back. 

“I don’t think you could stand to wait for me to catch up to you,” Alex breathed. 

He was right of course. 

“Will you two just get a room,” Ketsu groaned as he walked back towards the shop.

“Don’t worry, we’re going right now.” Alex said with such certainty Zeb couldn’t help but nod and follow Alex to his car. He could pick his truck up in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're interested in seeing what these two get up to at Alex's place, check out this amazing fic by nefariosity  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/29952273


	15. The Grand Opening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys, the final chapter! I hope you guys have enjoyed this ride with me! A huge shoutout to everyone in the KAD And Space Husbands server who helped me bring this piece to life!

Alex had done a spectacular job of keeping him distracted for the night, taking his mind off of the grand opening and all of his jittery nerves from the realization that the buyer would be seeing the finished product for the first time today. 

Initially the plan had been to reveal the piece to all of the guests in attendance of the grand opening at the same time as the buyer, but Zeb received a last minute email informing him of the change of plans that he would first show the piece to the buyer and a few select staff members. Zeb wasn’t sure if the change was just so the buyer could focus on the actual reveal and grand opening or if it was because for some reason he was now worried about the quality of the piece. 

Thankfully Alex wouldn’t let him dwell too long on such worrying thoughts, instead focusing on helping him get ready for the event. After Alex himself had gotten ready, he drove Zeb to his place so Zeb could change out of his clothes from the day before. The last thing Zeb needed was to go into the grand open clearly wearing clothes from the day prior arm and arm with Alex. They would certainly put two and two together and as unashamed as he was of being with Alex, this was the grand opening of a high end resort, he should at least attempt to look proper like Alex. 

‘Course, Alex could wear a potato sack and still manage to look gorgeous. Zeb couldn’t help but admire his simple yet sophisticated outfit. A long sleeve white button down shirt rolled up to his elbows with a black vest paired with a matching pair of black pants that seemed tailored perfectly for him. Zeb had nothing that nice in his wardrobe, people would probably assume Alex was the artist when they walked in with how nice he dressed up and assume Zeb was just the tag along. He didn’t belong in such a fancy place beside someone as gorgeous as Alex-

“What about this?” Alex softly asked, pulling something out of Zeb’s closet, seemingly realizing Zeb was stuck on what to wear. 

“Huh? That….?” Zeb slowly asked, glancing over the short sleeved blue button up shirt. “Is it….you know fancy enough for this kind of event….? I mean I want to look good, you know?”

“I think so,” Alex assured. “But if you’re worried about looking good you could go with a more natural look and go without the shirt.”

“Alex!” Zeb cried, eyes wide. “I- this is a formal event I-”

“People would be too busy drooling over your gorgeous abs to think about much else,” Alex purred, pausing for a moment as he continued, “Then again I might get a little jealous seeing so many people throw themselves at you so maybe the shirt is the best option.”

Zeb ducked his head, struggling to find a response as he willed his burning face to cool. He wasn’t that handsome. Not really, at least not compared to Alex. “Come on,” Alex softly said, reaching up to cup Zeb’s cheek, soothingly stroking it with his thumb. “Try it on, you’ll look nice.”

“If you say so,” Zeb said uncertainly, taking the shirt from Alex. 

“Trust me,” Alex said, pecking his cheek. “You’ll look wonderful.”

“Alright, alright.” Zeb sighed, heading towards the bathroom. 

“You could always change out here,” Alex warmly said. “Let me enjoy the show.”

“Not sure there's that much of a show-”

“Nonsense,” Alex said, reaching up to cup Zeb’s cheek, tenderly stroking it with his thumb. “As far as I’m concerned? You’re by far the handsomer one between the two of us.”

“Heh,” Zeb mumbled, “I doubt that-” Alex though reached up to tenderly peck his cheek and mumbled,

“Have you looked at yourself recently? You’re tall, extremely well built, and have eyes a person could get lost in for an eternity.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Zeb mumbled, wrapping his arms around Alex’s waist. 

“I’m not,” Alex assured, leaning up to peck Zeb’s lips. “Now go and get changed before I try to completely ravish you.”

Beaming, Zeb pecked Alex’s lips before slipping into the bathroom, quickly changing into the clothes Alex recommended he wear, nervously stepping out of the bathroom, Alex letting out an appreciative whistle as he looked him up and down. 

“See? That’s looking pretty good.”

“You sure this will be formal enough?”

“I think you might be trying to dress up too much,” Alex gently said. 

“Well this is a fancy resort!”

“When people go to resorts they don’t dress up all fancy, they usually wear comfy clothes.” Alex assured.

“You’ve been to a resort?” Zeb asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“You’re not a staff member,” Alex continued. “I doubt anyone expects you to dress up more than this.”

“What makes you so sure?” Zeb nervously asked. 

“Okay, well we could add a jacket to the outfit,” Alex thoughtfully said. “It can dress up the outfit and you can take it off to dress it down again if needed.”

“I don’t really have a jacket….” Zeb mumbled as Alex returned to the closet, leaving Zeb to fidget and play with the hem of his shirt nervously.

“What about this?” Alex asked as he pulled out his fathers old jacket from the back of the closet, Zeb shifting nervously.

“That’s uh- that’s my dad’s…..”

“Oh.” Alex said, glancing down at it then back up at Zeb with sympathy in his eyes.

“Bad memories?”

“No no !” Zeb quickly said. “Well not like you mean….my parents died in a car crash when I was in high school and….my gran said my dad would be proud for me to wear it but….I dunno I never felt worthy of it….”

Alex’s expression softened as he whispered, “Well I believe you are certainly worthy of wearing this….I believe your father would be honored for you to wear it. It could be like bringing him there with you.”

“That… that sounds nice,” Zeb said, swallowing thickly around the lump in his throat. He’d like to think his dad would be proud of what he’d achieved today. Alex gently handed Zeb the jacket that he slowly pulled on, turning to face the mirror, stumbling back when for a moment he saw his father looking back at him. 

“You look good,” Alex softly said, 

“Gran was right,” Zeb whispered. 

“Hmm?” Alex softly asked. 

“I do look like my dad.”

“Well now I know where you got your looks,” Alex said. 

“Heh,” Zeb mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Shall we get going then?”

“Let’s,” Zeb agreed, flashing Alex a watery smile, Alex tenderly taking his hand and squeezing it. 

The hotel was about an hour’s drive from Zeb’s place, Alex oh so kindly driving the pair out there, insisting Zeb was too much of a bundle of nerves and needed a chance to just breathe and relax before the big unveiling. 

However, despite the near constant stream of conversation from Alex, Zeb’s mind firmly remained on the upcoming reveal, his mind whirling with thoughts wondering if the mystery buyer would approve of the final product. Logically he knew their wasn’t anything else he could do at this point, 

Alex reached over to place a warm reassuring hand on top of his shaking one’s, whispering, 

“Deep breaths, it’s going to be okay.”

“Right,” Zeb said, trying to sound calmer than he actually was. Alex gently squeezed his hand as he pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, the parking lot already filling with people eagerly awaiting the grand opening ceremony. “There’s so many people-”

“It’s going to be great,” Alex soothingly said as they pulled into a parking spot near the back of the lot. “So many people are going to see your work and love it.”

“Or hate it-” Zeb said worryingly. 

“Nonsense,” Alex firmly said. “It is gorgeous and they will love it.” 

“People keep sayin’ that,'' Zeb mumbled. “So why can’t I believe it.”

“Regardless of your career choices, it seems one thing we all share is the terror we all feel in situations like this,” Alex softly said. “But you’re not going in alone. I’ll be right beside you the entire time.”

“...promise?” Zeb meekly asked. 

“Promise,” Alex firmly said. 

“Okay,” Zeb said, smiling gratefully at Alex before getting out of the car, Alex following closely behind. As they walked up to the entrance of the hotel, Zeb was hit with another wave of anxiety over his piece. There were so many people here, what if they hated it? What if the buyer hated it and wanted it gone and it caused the grand opening to be delayed? What if-

“Hello welcome!” One of the staff members standing at the door cheerfully greeted, startling Zeb out of his spiraling thoughts. “We’re not quite ready to open up so if you would please wait right over there the grand opening will begin soon.” 

“Thank you Kaitlyn but he will actually be joining us inside.” A cool yet familiar voice said, “This is the man we created the piece featured in our lobby.”

“Yes of course sir,” Kaitlyn said, turning to face Thrawn himself. 

“Welcome Garazeb, I assume this is your plus one?”

“I uh yes,” Zeb stammered, eyes wide. “So you commissioned me for the piece?” 

“Indeed,” Thrawn said with a warm smile, gesturing for Zeb to step inside. “From the concepts you drew I am very eager to see the final piece.”

“I’m confused,” Zeb said as he walked inside, tightly holding Alex’s hand who reassuringly squeezed it back. “Why me? I mean surely such a fancy place could have gotten something like this from a much more well known artist then me.”

“I was the one who pushed for someone local to create the centerpiece rather than having it imported from somewhere else.” Thrawn said. “I thought we should be known for supporting our local business whenever and however we can. I saw your work on your website and thought you would be the perfect man for the job.” 

“But why keep yourself a secret and then visit the shop?” Zeb asked. 

“I enjoy a good surprise,” Thrawn admitted. “I wasn’t sure what would be the best fit for the centerpiece and hoped an unbiased third party would be able to come up with something perfect. I found myself, however, eager to see your work in person which is why I initially visited your shop and when I saw what you were working on I was certain it would be the perfect piece to go in the lobby over the fireplace.” Thrawn continued as he led the pair through the lobby, eagerly pointing over towards the massive fireplace off to the side of the lobby, Zeb’s piece proudly on display over it. 

“I- I don’t even know what to say,” Zeb breathed. 

“When I saw your work in person I hoped to have even more of your work brought in but Eli kindly reminded me you are merely one man who already had quite the task ahead of you and would likely be overwhelmed by more pieces.”

“This was….certainly the biggest project I’d ever taken on,” Zeb admitted. “Not sure I could’ve done more for ya even if I wanted to.” Thrawn nodded his head in understanding. 

“Well I am grateful for what we have now. Perhaps you might be interested in other pieces in the future?”

“I would be honored!” Zeb exclaimed, his nerves getting the better of him as he quietly added, “But uh...maybe first see how you like what I made already….”

“I have no doubt it will be as impressive as the piece I have seen already,” Thrawn dismissively said. “Come, we are about to unveil your piece to the staff.”

“Right,” Zeb nervously said, still terrified for how others would receive it despite Thrawn's assurances. Alex gave his hand another reassuring squeeze, flashing him a soft smile that helped his nerves a little bit at least. 

No matter what happened, he at least had Alex with him. He would stand by him and support him no matter what. Feeling a little less nervous than before, Zeb followed Thrawn to the center of the lobby where his piece, hidden beneath a large tarp. Thrawn moved to stand in front of it, Alex and Zeb awkwardly standing off to the side as the staff eagerly congregated around Thrawn. 

“Congratulations everyone,” Thrawn began. “Today is a momentous day, the day we finally open to the public. I know there has been a great deal of work that was done to reach this moment, something that could not have been done without all of our hard work and patience.” All around them staff members started excitedly clapping. “But now, the real work begins. In just a few minutes we will be officially opening this resort to the public and everyone will be eager to start enjoying its amenities, so we must be prepared for the large rush and ensure each and every guest feels relaxed and welcome. Before we begin though, I wanted you all to be some of the first to see the centerpiece of our lobby hand carved especially for us by local woodcarver Garazeb Orrelios.” Thrawn gestured to where Zeb stood, everyone’s eyes falling on him as he awkwardly waved, unsure what he was expected to do. “Would you like to say a few words?”

“I would be honored,” Zeb said, realizing he really couldn’t say no. Swallowing thickly Zeb stood beside his piece, looking over the faces of the staff members as he awkwardly cleared his throat. “This piece was certainly one of the most...unique one’s I have ever carved.” Zeb uncertainly began, wishing he’d known he’d be asked to speak beforehand. “I had the honor of touring this place before it was fully finished to see what kind of place ya’ll were making and I must say it’s more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. I hope my piece will do this place justice and meet the high standards you have already set here.” Zeb glanced over at Thrawn who nodded his head, Zeb grabbing the edge of the tarp and carefully pulling it off of his piece. 

Zeb’s gaze instantly went back to the crowd, watching their faces with dread as initially there was no response. _They hate it, they hate it, it’s terrible I knew it, they-_ Eager clapping snapped Zeb out of his spiraling thoughts, his head turning towards the source to find Thrawn whose face was light up with excitement as he took it in, the rest of the staff quickly following suit as excited exclamations filled the air. Zeb took a few hasty steps back so the staff could further admire it, Thrawn walking over with a wide grin on his face saying, 

“It truly is spectacular! Paper truly did not do your vision justice!”

“Eh he, thanks,” Zeb nervously said. “I was terrified no one would like it.”

“Well you had no reason to be concerned,” Thrawn said, turning his gaze back to his piece. “It is truly marvelous, a fine addition to our resort. Thank you for bringing this to life.” 

“I really should be thankin’ you for given’ me the chance,” Zeb awkwardly mumbled. 

“I will say it again, thank you and your welcome,” Thrawn said. “Would you be willing to stand with me as we do the ribbon cutting?”

“I-I really don’t have a place-”

“Would you please do this honor for me?” Thrawn asked, “Your contribution deserves recognition.” 

“I uh- thank you,” Zeb breathlessly said, barely able to believe this was actually happening. 

“Of course,” Thrawn said. “Come, you may of course bring your guest as well.”

“O-oh no I couldn’t-” Alex quickly said but Thrawn waved a dismissive hand. “Nonsense, you really should be there as well. I insist.”

“I uh- a-alright,” Alex slowly said, glancing over at Zeb who shrugged uncertainly, reaching over to take Alex’s hand as they followed him back to the front of the hotel, some of the staff following behind them, others hurrying over to the desk, awaiting for the massive group of people who would inevitably rush to check in so they could begin enjoying the amenities. Everyone else went outside and stood around the front entrance where a large red ribbon had been tied across the front doors.

“Welcome everyone to the grand opening of The Great Wolf Resort.” Thrawn said to the crowd of people, a short burst of clapping rippled through the crowd as he continued, “I would like to take a moment to thank everyone here who helped bring this vision to life. From all of the staff members who worked so hard to prepare for this opening to everyone who worked to help build this place from the ground up. I would also like to give a special thanks to the artist who helped bring to life the magnificent carving you all will have the pleasure of seeing momentarily, Garazeb Orrelios.” Flashing lights momentarily filled Zeb’s vision as camera’s rapidly flashed, people eagerly taking photos around them. “I am certain he would be more than happy to speak to anyone who has any questions about the piece or any potential commissions from him.” Thrawn continued. “For now though-” A man quickly passed Thrawn a large pair of scissors. “Allow me to welcome everyone to the Great Wolf Resort!” As he cut the ribbon, the flashes becoming blinding as people started snapping photos.

A few staff members helped usher the group inside before allowing the crowd to enter, Zeb and Alex being shepored over to his carving, far more people then Zeb expected walking over to take pictures of it, staring up in awe at his work. 

“What did I tell you?” Alex softly whispered.

“Okay no one likes an ‘I told you soer’” Zeb whispered in a playful tone, Alex responding by kissing the tip of his nose as a couple walked up, rapidly firing questions at Zeb. Alex quietly stood off to the side, a constant comforting presence as wave after wave of people came up to speak with him, eagerly asking questions about his piece and his shop, people expressing interest even in a commission. 

Throughout the rest of the afternoon Alex helped get Zeb away for a moment to breathe whenever needed or helped fetch water or snacks for Zeb to eat and drink in between guests. The sheer number of people was almost overwhelming for him, but Alex, sweet, patient, wonderful Alex stood by his side, helping keep things manageable for him without complaint. 

He truly was a guardian angel.

Most people would have been complaining and demanding either his attention or to do something more interesting but Alex was both patient and understanding. Never once complaining about how long Zeb was taking. The few times Zeb managed to glance over at him he found Alex gazing at him with complete love and adoration, his breath leaving his lungs each time before being swept back up in the crowd.

It was truly both awe inspiring and terrifying how excited people were for his work. On multiple occasions he found himself wishing he’d thought to bring his business card. Alex though managed to get some notepads from the hotel and worked on writing down the shop's information for anyone who wanted it. 

Despite all of Alex’s help, both were starting to get run down as the evening went on, both eager to head home and get a nice warm meal in their bellies. Before they were able to even try and slip away, Thrawn appeared beside them saying, 

“You both must be exhausted, we have a room prepared for you so you can eat and get some rest.”

“O-oh!” Zeb exclaimed, eyes wide. “I uh I didn’t expect that-”

“I know you wound up staying far later then expected speaking with guests so this is the least I can do,” Thrawn said, 

“We really appreciate it,” Zeb said with a small smile. 

“It is very kind of you,” Alex agreed. 

“Of course,” Thrawn said. “I am assuming a room with one bed would suffice?” Out of the corner of his eye, Zeb saw Alex’s face turn bright red as he looked anywhere but Thrawn, Zeb’s face similarly burning as he weakly nodded mumbling, 

“Uh y-yea that would be fine.”

“Wonderful,” Thrawn said, handing Zeb a sleeve with two room keys inside. “I will have your meals sent up shortly.”

“Thank you,” Was all Zeb could choke out as Thrawn disappeared back into the crowd. “I Uh- sorry for assumin’ one bed would be okay-”

“No that’s fine,” Alex assured. “It’s more… I’m just surprised it was that obvious.”

“Well I uh wouldn’t look too much into it,” Zeb said as the pair weaved through the crowd. “That guy is scarily good at readin’ people.”

“I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse,” Alex admitted as they made their way towards the elevator. 

“Just take it as fact and try not to think about it too much,” Zeb said with a shrug as they stepped inside. 

“Fair,” Alex said, Zeb reaching over to hit the button for their floor. “You do realize we didn’t bring anything for spending the night here right?”

“Yea I realize that,” Zeb admitted.”I mean...we uh w-we don’t need pajama’s right?”

“Did you have any special activities in mind?” Alex purred, a playful glint in his eyes, Zeb’s face burning once more as he stammered, 

“N-no I mean I-I love to b-but I just I-I uh-”

“Hey, hey,” Alex soothingly said. “I was just playing around. It’s okay I know you’ve had a long day today.” 

“Thank you,” Zeb whispered as the elevator opened on their floor. 

“Of course,” Alex soothingly said, taking Zeb’s hand and squeezing it as they stepped off together. The pair made their way over to their room, Zeb holding the door open for Alex who stepped in, pausing in the entryway to gasp in wonder, Zeb slipping inside the room, finding himself equally stunned by the gorgeous room. Large windows looked out into the forest below, A luxurious sitting area was before them facing a massive television and to their right was a dining table already adorned with two covered trays of food, their delightful scent filling the room. To the left Zeb could just make out the bedroom and to the right was a closed door Zeb assumed led to the bathroom. 

“Uh….you think Thrawn gave us the wrong room?”

“...I can’t help but wonder,” Alex mumbled. 

“...should we get comfortable before they realize the mistake they made?” Zeb asked as Alex walked over to the trays, picking up the note left on the table. 

“This note has your name on it,” Alex slowly said, passing it over to Zeb as he lifted one of the covers off of one of the two trays as Zeb opened the letter. “Thrawn really went all out here didn’t he?”

“Hmmm,” Zeb mumbled as he read the short note;

_Garazeb,_

_I hope these accommodations are to your liking. I took the liberty of having our chef personally prepare your own portions of the meal being served in the banquet hall. If there's anything that is not to your satisfaction please do not hesitate to call down to the desk and we will be more than happy to make alternate arrangements for you._

_-Thrawn_

“I don’t know what could possibly make him think we could find something wrong even if we tried,” Zeb mumbled as he set down the note. 

“Who complains over a steak dinner?” Alex asked with a shake of his head. 

“Not me,” Zeb said, his stomach loudly growling, reminding them both how late it was and how long it had been since they’d eaten. The pair eagerly tore into their meals, both too hungry to worry much about trying to make small talk. 

“Thank you for coming out with me,” Zeb softly said as they finished their meals, Alex glancing up at him in surprise. 

“Even if I had to sit in the car all day I would have come,” Alex firmly said. “Nothing was going to stop me from being here to support you however I could on such an important day.” The powerful words of affection moved Zeb in ways he couldn’t find the words to express, so instead he stood and pulled Alex into a tender kiss, pouring every ounce of love and affection he had for Alex in it. 

When they broke apart, Alex merely whispered, “Me too.” Before tenderly kissing him back. 

“What would I do without you?” Zeb breathed against his lips. 

“I could ask the same thing,” Alex whispered back as he tenderly kissed him. 

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Alex breathed, pulling away. “But I think we both should get some sleep.”

“Yea, you're probably right,” Zeb mumbled, pressing his forehead against Alex’s. “But I don’t want to.”

“We can cuddle in bed,” Alex said. “And I imagine it will be far more comfortable then standing.” 

“Fair point,” Zeb mumbled, pecking Alex’s lips again.

“I occasionally have good ideas,” Alex mumbled with a small yawn.

“More than occasionally I’d argue,” Zeb assured, wrapping an arm around Alex’s waist as he led him towards the bedroom. 

“Well you are biased,” Alex mumbled, sleepily leaning into Zebs embrace.

“Maybe,” Zeb agreed kissing the top of Alex’s head. “Maybe not.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alex asked through a yawn.

“It means you crash hard love,” Zeb tenderly said.

“Been ready to crash for hours,” Alex grumbled. “Just been putting on a brave face for your fans.” 

“Well they appreciate that,” Zeb whispered, feeling his heart clench at Alex’s words, he was willing to spend the entire day exhausted just for him. “We can sleep in tomorrow though and get some much needed rest.”

“Sounds wonderful.” Alex happily sighed as he reluctantly pulled away to start stripping, Zeb taking a moment to admire Alex’s gorgeous body before doing the same. 

Once he was down to just his boxers Alex collapsed into the bed with a sleep sigh, Zeb warmly chuckling at the sight as he joined Alex on the bed.

Zeb tenderly pulled Alex close to him, Alex immediately nuzzling into his warmth, not even bothering to pull the blanket over them as Alex peacefully drifted off to sleep curled up in his arms.

“I love you.” Zeb whispered to Alex’s sleeping form, tenderly kissing the top of his head. With Alex’s warmth pressed against him, his soft breaths ghosting his skin, he realized that with Alex by his side they could weather any storm the world tried to throw at them.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Pay the Fine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29952273) by [nefariosity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nefariosity/pseuds/nefariosity)




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